tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41423336282366749912015-11-09T11:45:05.594-07:00Fifty-Nine MinutesThis blog was originally a set of reflections as a student teacher, full time teacher, and then technology director in K-12 education.
It is currently a place for educational technology reflections and features a few interesting assignments during my masters degree program.rruggleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004798089838610143noreply@blogger.comBlogger139125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-74424810904565952162014-01-16T21:22:00.000-07:002014-01-16T21:25:14.646-07:00The Final Semester Begins!The last semester of my Instructional Technology Master's Degree at UNI has begun! My professor for the class titled "Coordinating Technology in an Educational Setting" asked us to come up with a different type of introduction for this first week. We were asked to stretch ourselves, think outside the box, and really consider what we are going to after we have our degree. In his words, we are supposed to "tell us about who you <i>will be."</i><br /><i><br /></i>I took a stab at using a new tool, <a href="https://www.thinglink.com/learn" target="_blank">ThingLink</a>, and also spent some time reflecting back in order to think about moving forward. I hope you enjoy my image below!<br /><br /><img src="//cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/480189317092737025/1024/10/scaletowidth#tl-480189317092737025;1043138249" style="max-width: 100%;" /><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js"></script>rruggleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004798089838610143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-15854827755649176822013-04-08T11:36:00.000-06:002013-04-08T11:36:51.088-06:00UDL & There’s an App for That!<div class="p1">Recently in my instructional technology program we have been studying Universal Design for Learning (UDL).&nbsp; At its very core UDL is a set of principals for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn.&nbsp; Furthermore, it provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone.&nbsp; This is <i>not</i> the single, one-size-fits-all approach that we have seen all too often in K-16 education.&nbsp; Instead, it is a flexible approach that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs, because every student brings a huge variety of skills, needs, and interests to learning every day.&nbsp; As educators we need to have a better framework to make this work within our classrooms.&nbsp; With that idea in mind CAST, a nonprofit research and development organization, put together a more expansive, three tier approach to UDL.&nbsp; It looks like this:</div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>1.) Educators need to present information and content in different ways.&nbsp; In order to do this UDL looks at providing Multiple Means of Representation.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>2.) Educators need to differentiate the ways that students can express what they know.&nbsp; In order to do this UDL looks at providing Multiple Means of Action and Expression.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>3.) Educators need to stimulate interest and motivation for learning.&nbsp; In order to do this UDL looks at providing Multiple Means of Engagement.</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">For more information about UDL check out the <a href="http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl" target="_blank">CAST website</a>.&nbsp; They also have a great introductory <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDvKnY0g6e4" target="_blank">video</a> for those that have not heard of UDL before. &nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Our assignment this week was to take a look at ten apps that can help a specific situation implement a more UDL enhanced learning environment.&nbsp; I took a close look at a fictional, but very realistic situation where a group of early elementary teachers come to their technology integrationist with a desire to more effectively implement UDL in their classrooms.&nbsp; All their students have iPads, but the teachers are unsure what specific apps might help them in this situation.&nbsp; I took on this challenge and put together a great list of eleven apps, targeting each one of the three UDL guidelines, that includes links, descriptions, and additional references for each one.&nbsp; These apps fit really well with the UDL assignment, but ultimately if you are looking at a few great apps in an elementary (or even secondary) setting these may fit the bill.</span><br /><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DaYLhnw3_291WwWsrvgyyCTIK2gtKJs2ALn8G6NYczs/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="173" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EftvZYCaM0E/UWL-ovR8bxI/AAAAAAAAAEs/YUVCtTCHII0/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-04-08+at+1.29.37+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span class="s1"><i>Click the icon above for the full document!</i></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1">I encourage you to take a look at my list and see what you think and please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.</div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">At the end of the day I am still not ultimately set on UDL as being a “guiding core of the educational system of the future.”&nbsp; I believe that with its age, its over 20 years old, combined with the lack of real progress and change it has exhibited over time may lead to its downfall.&nbsp; There are too many misconceptions around UDL and what it means and how it actually even looks in our classrooms.&nbsp; The idea is great, but the implementation on a day to day basis seems a bit difficult and hard to complete.&nbsp; Even UDL advocates have had a hard time actually proving that UDL has huge benefits in education on a large scale.&nbsp; CAST has been able to prove that UDL works well in single classrooms, but even they have had a hard time replicating and scaling this across multiple grade levels and school settings.&nbsp; In the end I firmly believe in the ideas and the core of UDL as it sits in the learning guidelines, but in its current state there are too many questions that prohibit me from wanting to use UDL on a regular basis.&nbsp; This is only my experience with UDL over the past two weeks and if yours is different – or even similar – I encourage you to let me know your thoughts below.&nbsp; &nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Thanks for reading! &nbsp;</span></div>rugglesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04442878455219664244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-14617066853738522852013-03-10T12:55:00.000-06:002013-03-10T12:55:49.862-06:00The Intersections of TPACK <div class="p1">This week in graduate school we have been looking at the idea of TPACK by Mishra and Koehler.&nbsp; This idea of the three circles (Technological Knowledge-TK, Pedagogical Knowledge-PK, and Content Knowledge-CK) is a relatively new one in the education world.&nbsp; Gone is the shock of the SAMR Model, which to some element I still believe applies to schools and situations where there is no framework for discussing and talking about technology education.&nbsp; Before really understanding and being able to have tough discussions about technology integration, staff need to be able to antiquate where exactly their technology integration skills currently fall on the spectrum of the SAMR model.&nbsp; This discussion, like the one that <a href="http://www.maggiehosmcgrane.com/2010/04/samr-model-from-theory-to-practice.html" target="_blank">Maggie Hos-McGrane</a> had with her team, is the prerequisite for truly understanding and applying the TPACK model into our classrooms, corporations, and educational arenas.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">The bottom line is that the TPACK model is much more complex than the SAMR model.&nbsp; TPACK, at its heart, is all about the connection of the TK, PK, and CK.&nbsp; It is in the middle of these three concentric circles that we find the best opportunity for teaching and learning to occur.&nbsp; The uniting of these forces can create a learning experience where the content knowledge is presented through technology using a pedagogy that best fits the subject matter.&nbsp; Or if that definition doesn't make sense, it is really the overlap of these three areas where a 21st century classroom is most powerful.&nbsp; <a href="http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2011/03/using-tpack-as-framework-for-tech-pd.html" target="_blank">Lisa Nielsen</a> has some fantastic resources on her blog about using the TPACK as a framework for professional development, integration of technology, and pre-service lesson plan evaluation.&nbsp; Lisa's work is worth a few minutes to see how she is successfully using the TPACK to continue on this discussion of technology integration.&nbsp; Another great look at how SAMR and TPACK connect to one another can be seen on <a href="http://jennyluca.wikispaces.com/TPACK+and+SAMR" target="_blank">Jenny Luca's</a> wiki.&nbsp; She provides a wealth of videos and links to better understand both models and how they relate to one another.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">At the end of the day, the TPACK model is a great way to discuss technology integration.&nbsp; I think it has some fantastic applications in the K-12 educational environment.&nbsp; However, I believe it is even more important to consider this model in the corporate setting.&nbsp; As an educational trainer I need to consider the specific content knowledge of what I am teaching.&nbsp; First, do I know the content inside and out?&nbsp; If I am teaching about a new piece of software, it needs to make sense to me and I have to know it really well.&nbsp; Second, can I teach?&nbsp; I might be the absolute smartest person when it comes to the content, but if I don't know anything about teaching I will fall flat on my face.&nbsp; Having a background in teaching, classroom management, lesson design, and other characteristics of pedagogical knowledge is immensely important to my job.&nbsp; Third, do I know the technology?&nbsp; Having a background in technology is important, but even more important is the ability to actually use it productively when training others.&nbsp; Do I know which buttons to push, where to navigate to, and more so what to do when something goes wrong?&nbsp; I have to know these elements in order to be effective in this area.&nbsp; Each of these areas are wonderful if all I wanted to be was someone with great knowledge of a piece of software, a great teacher, or a total technology geek – not all three.&nbsp; However, educators and corporate trainers need to be all three of these at once.&nbsp; That is a difficult and tall task for any educator, much less for someone that works at software company.&nbsp; The world continues to change as new items come out, methods occur, and older ideas that used to work no longer do.&nbsp; I have to do my job as a corporate trainer at the intersection of these three circles in the TPACK.&nbsp; If I do, then I succeed.&nbsp; People learn the product because of my teaching, knowledge of the technology, and effective use of the technology.&nbsp; If I am too much about the technology or lack the knowledge of the product then I will not be successful.&nbsp; I like how <a href="http://punya.educ.msu.edu/publications/mishra-koehler-l&amp;l-2009.pdf" target="_blank">Mishra and Koehler</a> discussed this idea in their recent publication: "This would not be possible without a deep, complex, fluid, and flexible knowledge of the technology, the content to be covered, and an appropriate pedagogy."&nbsp; This intersection is something that I strive for each and every time I step in front of a captive audience to teach our software.&nbsp; I need to equally hit the technology, content, and pedagogy in order to be successful.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">When I step back and consider this intersection it does, at times, seem daunting.&nbsp; Balancing these three areas is a difficult task.&nbsp; At times I think we all dip into having too much technology and not enough content or vice versa.&nbsp; However, I really believe that if teachers took some time and framed their teaching using the TPACK model it might become more successful.&nbsp; It begins with reading the works of others like <a href="http://www.newschooltechnology.org/2011/08/tpack-and-systemic-integration-focus-tools/" target="_blank">Mark Fijor</a> as he discusses TPACK in terms of really limiting and narrowing down the tools that educators use in their classrooms.&nbsp; It is by this smaller number we can really begin to allow staff to go deep and truly learn them inside and out, which in turn allows them to be successful in this circle of the model.&nbsp; Simplifying the technology offerings is also an idea patterned by <a href="http://tips2012.edublogs.org/2012/06/06/tips-2012-professional-learning-10-what-is-a-good-app/" target="_blank">Dr. Jenny Lane</a> as she discussed app choices and starting with the content and app rubric that matches the TPACK model.</div><div class="p1">&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3gfVCxp_PTU/UTzWDGCer6I/AAAAAAAAAEc/2R5_QtqHKSQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-10+at+1.48.16+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3gfVCxp_PTU/UTzWDGCer6I/AAAAAAAAAEc/2R5_QtqHKSQ/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-03-10+at+1.48.16+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Citation: <a href="http://punya.educ.msu.edu/publications/mishra-koehler-l&amp;l-2009.pdf" target="_blank">Mishra &amp; Koelher</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="p1">Finally, like the cartoon above, our teachers can really be effective integrators of technology, but they need to begin with the content and instruction and then add in the technology component.&nbsp; It is through the use of the TPACK model that corporate trainers like myself and K-12 educators can really begin to re-think, retransform, and re-imagine instruction to become more effective in today's world.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>rugglesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04442878455219664244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-19317933857838320152013-02-03T13:22:00.001-07:002013-02-03T13:24:20.419-07:00Google Forms UpdatedGoogle Forms has long been the middle child of Google Documents (now called Drive). &nbsp;It has been under appreciated, long forgotten, but still a vital member of the Google Apps family. &nbsp;That is until this week when it got what Google is calling "rebuilt" and "a faster, cleaner, and more collaborative experience." &nbsp;More information on the release <a href="http://googledrive.blogspot.com/2013/01/google-forms-refreshed.html" target="_blank">from Google</a>.<br /><br />Well, I have to say that Google has made significant strides in this new version to satisfy those of us that have used Forms for years. &nbsp;I have long written about Forms on this <a href="http://fiftynineminutes.blogspot.com/2011/03/google-apps-for-education-forms_12.html" target="_blank">blog</a>, but these updates are exciting. &nbsp;The layout is a lot more user friendly, it auto saves like the rest of the Drive documents, responses can be directed to a totally different spreadsheet , and URLs actively link to websites. &nbsp;But don't just take my words here on the page as truth, let me show you:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/O2sTwU6aYWs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/O2sTwU6aYWs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Google Forms is very much updated, but it still leaves a few items to be desired. &nbsp;For instance, where is the functionality to add in images? &nbsp;There are scripts out there that assist us in doing it, but isn't it about time Google? &nbsp;Also, math formulas? &nbsp;These should be part of a WYSIWYG editor and not limited to text as it currently is. &nbsp;What about the option to randomize questions? &nbsp;Add a timer? &nbsp;Some of these features are still very much needed.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">At The FAIR School we have been consistently using Google Forms to collect teacher evaluations, enrollment information, quizzes, and more for years. &nbsp;Also, don't forget the fact that you can now create a form from a current Google Spreadsheet. &nbsp;For more information, check out this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOU2YPflPkQ&amp;feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">video</a> from Google. &nbsp;These updates only make Forms more of a player in the survey universe. &nbsp;Try out the new version today and let me know your thoughts below.</div>Mr. Rugglesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-17758267963202571292012-10-24T18:15:00.000-06:002012-10-24T18:15:52.015-06:00Good People Still Exist In This World <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Just over a week ago we had one of our high school students get off of a public&nbsp;transit rail car to meet up with her friends.&nbsp; Somehow in the mix up of getting on another train and deciding where to go she happened to leave her backpack, which of course had all of her school stuff inside of it – including her new school issued laptop. She realized this error right after she left the station and even tried repeatedly to get in touch with our metro transit officials in an attempt to get the backpack and her laptop back.&nbsp; In fact, she even did the right thing and came and talked to me first thing in the morning about the situation.&nbsp; We went right ahead and began to leverage our JAMF software suite in the legal ways that we could to try and locate the computer.&nbsp; However, like most lost or stolen computers I began to believe, like the other ones we have had lost of stolen over the years, that it was just gone.&nbsp; Someone picked it up, wiped it, threw it out, pawned it, or did whatever people do with a laptop they find at a train station. &nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oM1Ugo20yRI/UIiDuR_MReI/AAAAAAAAADo/ZQu5NLHltDI/s1600/chimpbags_pro_series_backpack_7760_laptopsleeve_nikonjunkiegirl_cambags.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oM1Ugo20yRI/UIiDuR_MReI/AAAAAAAAADo/ZQu5NLHltDI/s200/chimpbags_pro_series_backpack_7760_laptopsleeve_nikonjunkiegirl_cambags.jpeg" width="132" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">However, this is where the story takes a little bit of a different turn.&nbsp; Someone actually called the school a few days ago and their message got transferred to one of our English teachers who then told the student about the message.&nbsp; After it was all sorted out and I got the phone number of this random person claiming to have our student’s laptop.&nbsp; This afternoon I gave the number a call.&nbsp; What was I expecting?&nbsp; Some sort of ransom note?&nbsp; Maybe a plan to meet up at some shady location and exchange money?&nbsp; Instead, what I received was a pleasant conversation to meet up at the exact location where the laptop was stolen and recover the laptop.&nbsp; So I cautiously agreed to meet up with the individual, who to all accounts sounded like an OK person on the phone, at the train station.&nbsp; I even took along a colleague as well.&nbsp; After calling each other we eventually met up on the train platform.&nbsp; A young woman and her father walked towards me and handed the student’s missing book bag and computer over.&nbsp; There were no strings attached, no questions, no anything – just gratitude and words of thanks on my side.</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">After exchanging addresses for a thank you card and package to be sent soon, I asked the family why they picked up the backpack.&nbsp; The young girl answered that she got off the train and noticed the backpack sitting there on the train station deck.&nbsp; It was obviously out of place so she picked it up and began to search through it looking for any identification or markings that related to the owner.&nbsp; Then she found the student’s laptop and after looking at the student name tag in the case she knew that it belonged to one of our students.&nbsp; The family looked up the address for the school, stopped by after hours when no one was there to open the door, and then called eventually the next day.&nbsp; The rest is history.&nbsp; However, when I asked her why she didn’t keep the bag, her response was: “I am sure the student wants it back.&nbsp; Those things are expensive.&nbsp; She probably has a lot of work to do.” &nbsp; &nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Teenagers are humans.&nbsp; We all make mistakes and slip up one time or another.&nbsp; We can’t forget where we parked, download a virus onto our computers, lock our keys in the car, and sometimes we even leave a laptop at a train station.&nbsp; The amazing part is that there are still are good people out there in the world that will turn in a missing laptop.&nbsp; We all too often forget about these people, but our faith is restored when we are on the receiving end of a situation where someone helps us out.&nbsp; Today I was reminded of this fact.&nbsp; I hope that you remember that good people, like Katie and her dad, are still out there!</span></div>Mr. Rugglesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-84971748896185577152012-10-23T20:36:00.002-06:002012-10-23T20:40:06.235-06:00New Icons in Google Apps & Conditional FormattingThe joy of using Google Apps for Education is that very often updates occur – like weekly. <br /><br />However, every once in a while I login and notice that something is different and a little off. &nbsp;Such was the case this week when I noticed that the icons for the Google Documents changed as well as a few of their colors. &nbsp;In addition to that specific change, there are a few other helpful features Google has added in recently to Documents in particular. &nbsp;Check out the video below for more information:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ioSTt0muqrk?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><br />For more information on Docs, Sheets, and Slides (Google's new Drive names for Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentation) check out this <a href="http://support.google.com/drive/bin/answer.py?hl=en&amp;answer=49008" target="_blank">link</a> to their support page.<br /><br />In addition, some features of Google Apps for Education are worth repeating. &nbsp;For instance, in Google Spreadsheets the use of conditional formatting is, I believe, an underutilized tool. &nbsp;It can filter out responses and color code them with ease. &nbsp;The only thing the user has to do is set-up the formatting. &nbsp;Check out the video below on how to do that:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wjkzfiJN_Mc/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wjkzfiJN_Mc?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wjkzfiJN_Mc?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As you can hopefully see there are a number of uses for conditional formatting. &nbsp;We recently used this at school to track which students had turned in important emergency record paperwork. &nbsp;The ones that had turned it in received an "x" and their cell background turned green and those that had not turned in their paperwork the cells were blank and the background turned red. &nbsp;It was very easy for instructors and office staff to quickly scan through the list and pull out those missing information. &nbsp;The same can be used in a classroom. &nbsp;With conditional formatting set up staff can quickly look and see how much re-teaching needs to occur or how many students actually understood the concept after watching a video. &nbsp;A quick visual is always a good idea.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Google Apps for Education continues to amaze me with the power of their suite of apps. &nbsp;Hopefully these videos have been helpful. &nbsp;There will be more to come in the future!</div><br />Mr. Rugglesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-37273376627842261462012-10-19T08:12:00.000-06:002012-10-19T09:01:30.685-06:00Bitsboard: An App That Transforms Education <span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Having been a part of the iPad/iPod/iOS education world for the past few years I have seen a number of good apps and tons of bad apps as well.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Unfortunately, the bad apps, or non-educational ones, seem to heavily outweigh the perfect for education apps.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">However, whenever I present to a group of teachers or other educators the most common question is “What are some of your favorite apps?”</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Now I completely realize that apps are only one thing that you can do on an iPad, but every once in a while a good app comes along and you just have to share it.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">This is the case today with the creation and release of Bitsboard by Grasshopper Apps.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">If you are not familiar with Grasshopper Apps, then I suggest you check out their website <a href="http://www.grasshopperapps.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">They are widely known throughout the educational community for having amazing, beautiful, and free apps that are completely customizable.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">That’s right - educators of any kind can tweak, change, and add whatever they want to their own app.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">At FAIR School Downtown we would add in our own images, lists, and audio.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">This has been a huge game changer in our classrooms - especially with spelling words.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Teachers would create their list(s) for the week all ahead of time with images, pictures, and audio over the top and then I would sync the one master iPad with the lists to all the other ones.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Sometimes it would work and at other times the lists would corrupt halfway through the quarter.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">It was a great idea, but never reached its full potential.</span><br /><div style="min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_mX-8uAXrcE/UIFdKgVhhiI/AAAAAAAAACg/RgyIJn3QW08/s1600/photo+2+copy.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_mX-8uAXrcE/UIFdKgVhhiI/AAAAAAAAACg/RgyIJn3QW08/s200/photo+2+copy.PNG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Now the game has changed, finally.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">For almost a year now I have been in close contact with Mila over at Grasshopper Apps.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">They have been working on an app that allows teachers to create their own flashcards and then share them to their students through a catalog.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">No syncing required.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It has been incredible to see an idea that many users wanted transform into a fully developed app.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">That’s right, this morning they released the newest, and in my opinion best so far, app called Bitsboard. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="min-height: 14px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-58bPYOJbh1Y/UIFqzSVjrrI/AAAAAAAAADY/nt3_TWE9vu0/s1600/mzm.sjempcic.175x175-75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-58bPYOJbh1Y/UIFqzSVjrrI/AAAAAAAAADY/nt3_TWE9vu0/s1600/mzm.sjempcic.175x175-75.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Bitsboard is only about 10% done according to their introduction email, but is is absolutely a game changer in terms of educational apps.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">At this time the app has access to over 100,000 flashcards that include pictures and audio, allows you to create new flashcards (see the process below), backup the custom flashcards online, sync and share content across devices, and provides access to lessons from other teachers as well.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Now at this time I totally understand that this is only a app that has customizable flash cards with images or audio, but this is a start.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">I personally do not know of another app out there that allows you to create unique, customized content with images and audio, share it with the cloud, have your students download it, and then practice totally without syncing the devices.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></div><div style="min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is how it works:</span></span><br /><div style="min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div><div><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">1.) Download the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/bitsboard/id516842210?mt=8" style="color: #2100ab;" target="_blank">Bitsboard app on the App Store</a><span style="color: #2100ab;">.</span></span></span></div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Did I mention that this app it totally free!&nbsp; That’s right, I get nothing for posting about it and there is no cost to you for trying it out.&nbsp; Can’t get much better than that!</span></span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GWr-LHP1cRA/UIFdL2EYsAI/AAAAAAAAACw/mvCclM9Y-oA/s1600/photo+3+copy.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GWr-LHP1cRA/UIFdL2EYsAI/AAAAAAAAACw/mvCclM9Y-oA/s200/photo+3+copy.PNG" width="200" /></span></a></div><div style="min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2.) Open the app and land in the “Home Screen” of Bitboard</span></span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is where the pre-downloaded lists are at or where the lists are that you downloaded from the Catalog.</span></span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vHmzaJU5a-E/UIFdNewL4VI/AAAAAAAAADA/_FBFIvvVL5Y/s1600/photo+4+copy.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vHmzaJU5a-E/UIFdNewL4VI/AAAAAAAAADA/_FBFIvvVL5Y/s200/photo+4+copy.PNG" width="200" /></span></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">3.) Notice the “Catalog” icon in the upper left corner.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">This is where Grasshopper Apps already has pre-created boards that have content in them.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">They have also added in some of their more popular apps with the content already added in (Telling Time, First Words, Three Letter Words) at the top.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">If you find a list you want to download, click the universal cloud with the arrow down icon and it shows up on your iPad in seconds.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nw8IuuKCjTk/UIFdJCcO-fI/AAAAAAAAACQ/dir-6_WUnGk/s1600/photo+1+copy.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nw8IuuKCjTk/UIFdJCcO-fI/AAAAAAAAACQ/dir-6_WUnGk/s200/photo+1+copy.PNG" width="150" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">4.) What about actually creating your own lists?</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Easy.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Navigate back to the “Home Screen” for the app by clicking the “Home” icon.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Then click the “Gear” in the upper right corner.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We are all familiar with what this icon means, but this time it brings up a few option in the contents.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Click on “Your Boards” and then the “+” in the upper right corner and then “Create a new board.”</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I4xbHp_TuC4/UIFdMiTv9AI/AAAAAAAAAC4/sXyXvRmeVvM/s1600/photo+3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I4xbHp_TuC4/UIFdMiTv9AI/AAAAAAAAAC4/sXyXvRmeVvM/s200/photo+3.PNG" width="200" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">5.) Enter a title at the top where it says “Enter board name here”</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></div><div style="min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6.) Click the plus icon to add a new flash card.&nbsp; The new flash card comes up and then you can type in the word you want here.&nbsp; Most words will then also automatically pull in a photo of what you typed as well.&nbsp; If not then you can choose an image.&nbsp; In addition, the app may also drop in audio of the word as well, but if not then click the red record button and put in your own audio.&nbsp; Want to listen to it?&nbsp; Then click the green plus icon on the other side.&nbsp; As soon as you are done with one flash card, then click behind on the right and it saves automatically.&nbsp; Click the “plus” icon and a new blank flashcard comes up here. &nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WAQZSIEB2AY/UIFdLg3o1nI/AAAAAAAAACo/Wk79AgNMqlg/s1600/photo+2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WAQZSIEB2AY/UIFdLg3o1nI/AAAAAAAAACo/Wk79AgNMqlg/s200/photo+2.PNG" width="200" /></span></a></div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">7.) Sharing the set of flash cards (called boards in this app) is almost as easy as well.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Click the “Share” icon in the upper right corner of the app and provided you are logged into Facebook as well the board automatically appears in the Catalog.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The Facebook integration kind of bugged me at first, but then I read some more about this app and the folks at Grasshopper Apps are already working on the ability to create new user accounts without Facebook and they claim that this is coming “very soon.”</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Then a few seconds after uploaded the board, I checked in the Catalog and searched for the title of my board.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It was there waiting for me and the students in first grade, or anyone with an iPad and this app, can download and use it.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp; </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Absolutely amazing! </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_uaGibzho18/UIFdOlKfDUI/AAAAAAAAADI/m3Nrf_1e89Q/s1600/photo+4.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_uaGibzho18/UIFdOlKfDUI/AAAAAAAAADI/m3Nrf_1e89Q/s200/photo+4.PNG" width="200" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div style="min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A few things to be aware of about this app from Grasshopper Apps.&nbsp; First, they are currently in the process of integrating a bunch of their other apps into this one so that it becomes a “one stop shop.”&nbsp; Coming soon is integration with Photo Touch, Little Reader, Little Speller, and Memory Cards.&nbsp; They are also claiming to add in a bunch of other pieces to this app so that it is more than a flashcards app.&nbsp; What that looks like we will see soon.&nbsp; Also, this is only an iPad app at the moment.&nbsp; They are actively creating an iPhone version as well.&nbsp; For more information check out the full posting about this app in the App Store linked here.</span></span><br /><div style="min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Maybe I am only the one that is totally excited about this app, but the possibilities for me boggle my mind.&nbsp; Teachers can now be at home, create a spelling list, review list, etc. and then have the students download it when they arrive on their iPads at school.&nbsp; In addition, teachers in the same building or district at the same grade level can all be using the same lists so students learn the same content regardless of the teacher.&nbsp; Foreign language, special education, and high school biology terms have all been transformed now.&nbsp; Create a list, share it with your students, and then have them review on their own time and not during precious class time.&nbsp; This app can also transform the learning and review process at home.&nbsp; If families own an iPad (or iPhone in the future) they can download this <i>free</i> app and then look for the teacher’s lists for that week.&nbsp; Then the student can practice and review their school work at home.&nbsp; No missing paper, lost list, etc. Furthermore, students can create their own lists.&nbsp; If they consistently have trouble with a few words they can create their own “challenge list” and then add the ones they get wrong each week and consistently practice them when they have a chance.&nbsp; The possibilities appear endless.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FJiThsh3Fn8/UIFdJnZMpqI/AAAAAAAAACY/yZhmTSs5nWY/s1600/photo+1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FJiThsh3Fn8/UIFdJnZMpqI/AAAAAAAAACY/yZhmTSs5nWY/s200/photo+1.PNG" width="150" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">With the understanding that this app is still under development, there are a few things I would tweak.&nbsp; My largest suggestion at this point, outside of adding in the non-Facebook requirement to post lists, would be the integration of testing and reporting the progress on lists.&nbsp; Alligator Apps has an awesome app titled “A+ Speller” that allows students to practice their words and then the progress is emailed back to the instructor.&nbsp; I would love to see some integration on this front so that instructors can track student progress and how they are doing on specific words.&nbsp; This would be a welcome addition to the app, but I have to say at this point I am very impressed with the ease of use, functionality, and ability to easily share and download content.&nbsp; Well done Grasshopper Apps! &nbsp;</span><br /><div style="min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">I would encourage everyone out there to download and try out this app.&nbsp; It’s free so its not like you are out a dollar or two.&nbsp; Who knows, you might just figure out a way to integrate this into your classroom/school/district.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">P.S. I was not paid or encouraged to write this post about Bitboard.&nbsp; I am so excited about the potential this app has to transform education that I had to share.&nbsp; Thanks for reading!</span></div>Mr. Rugglesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-49578422003244246132012-09-10T07:29:00.000-06:002012-09-10T07:29:09.434-06:00School Communication for Today’s WorldWhen I started at The FAIR School a little over four years ago communication internally and externally was a mess.&nbsp; Messages were not getting to staff, announcements over the loud speaker were made almost every half an hour, and emails clogged up each person’s Inbox.&nbsp; Instead of being productive, we were unproductive as a staff.&nbsp; Furthermore, on the community side we were not doing a good job communicating with our parents and families about upcoming events, conferences, and general announcements.<br /><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">What we quickly realized as a leadership team was that we were communicating in an outdated and ineffective manner.&nbsp; Papers were not making it home, a printed calendar changed weekly as new events were added and old ones moved, and there was an insane amount of time wasted looking through all staff email announcements that did not apply to everyone on the staff.</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Then a change happened...</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Under the direction of our administration, leadership team, and lots of long hours by our communications director we have shifted how we communicate with our school community.&nbsp; It is relevant, environmentally aware, and inherently digital.&nbsp; Here is a look at the multiple ways we communicate with The FAIR School community:</span></div><ul><li class="li1"><span class="s1"><b>Email:</b> We do still use this form of communication between parent/guardians and staff to share specific concerns, get in touch with one another, or receive information.&nbsp; Sometimes also we use this as a school and parent/guardian message when we want to target a certain segment of our population, like only 3rd grade families.</span></li></ul><ul><li class="li1"><span class="s1"><b>School Connects: </b>Occasionally we use this system to “robo call” all our families.&nbsp; This is an important piece of our communication system in case of emergency, snow day, or other major announcement that needs to get to everyone at once.&nbsp; However, this system is used sparingly because our other methods are more effective.</span></li></ul><ul><li class="li1"><span class="s1"><b>FAIR Talk: </b>This is our monthly school newsletter.&nbsp; We still love the written word and greatly appreciate the newsletter form as a way to summarize and update families about upcoming events.&nbsp; Before we printed out a copy of this for each of our families, but now we do not print any.&nbsp; Instead, this is posted on our website and Facebook page for students, parent/guardians, and our community to digitally access and read.&nbsp; Furthermore, by publishing this digitally our communications director has the ability to use more pictures and lots of color in her design.</span></li></ul><ul><li class="li1"><span class="s1"><b>SchoolView: </b>This is our parent/guardian link to online attendance, grades, and registration information.&nbsp; We have had this method of communication in place for a number of years and it works well for its multiple intended purposes.</span></li></ul><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><i>Up to this point I think many of our communication methods are what you would see in many schools.&nbsp; We might use a tool slightly different, but most are similar.&nbsp; However, I think the next three methods of communication set The FAIR School apart.</i></span><br /><span class="s1"><i><br /></i></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hgng7AGxovc/UEzCnLB0B1I/AAAAAAAAAJY/58F4SDLg4OI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-09-09+at+11.23.25+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hgng7AGxovc/UEzCnLB0B1I/AAAAAAAAAJY/58F4SDLg4OI/s200/Screen+Shot+2012-09-09+at+11.23.25+AM.png" width="200" /></a></div></div><ul><li class="li1"><span class="s1"><b>Text Message: </b>Almost everyone has a cell phone, so why not communicate with our parents where they are instead of having them listen to a message left on their home machine (provided that they have a home phone) or wait for their student to come home from school?&nbsp; The request to have text messages actually came out of parent communication with the school.&nbsp; Our principal came to me with the idea and within a few weeks we had the system up and running with parents enrolled.&nbsp; We use texting to communicate up to the minute information and some of those typical types of announcements that we would normally have sent out through School Connects.&nbsp; Furthermore, we can tier the messages so that only Kindergarten parent/guardians receive it or all our 9-12 parent/guardians.&nbsp; The key here is that we are limited to 160 characters so you have to be short when communicating.&nbsp; As a staff we rolled this out two years ago and reminded them about upcoming summer trainings.&nbsp; They loved it because they did not have to continually check their school email during the summer and we loved it because they actually showed up for trainings.&nbsp; We also have a short code, so at events if people want more information we can have then text “FAIR” to our number and then send them back a URL, name of a contact person, or what ever our message happens to be.</span></li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Eio5qnnWHg/UEzBOwWL2CI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/IRD0V9Tuxsw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-09-09+at+7.20.41+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Eio5qnnWHg/UEzBOwWL2CI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/IRD0V9Tuxsw/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-09-09+at+7.20.41+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><ul><li class="li1"><span class="s1"><b>Website: </b>The FAIR School website is not like other websites.&nbsp; Take a look at the main page linked <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/wmep.k12.mn.us/fair/home" target="_blank">here</a>.&nbsp; What do you notice?&nbsp; There is a little text, links on the side, some photos, and videos throughout.&nbsp; Yes, we have really tried to bring the idea that a website is not a one dimensional space.&nbsp; We want it to be interactive, exciting, and engaging, albeit a bit untraditional.&nbsp; Furthermore, this is the main page for both campuses.&nbsp; The FAIR School is one school with two campuses - FAIR School Downtown (located in Minneapolis, MN) and FAIR School Crystal (located in Crystal, MN).&nbsp; By looking at the site you will notice that a lot of the information is the same for both campuses, because it should be.&nbsp; This is big part of our communications mission where we want to have everything streamlined through one site in order for our community to come and grab what they need.&nbsp; One important distinction about our website though – it is only for our permanent information.&nbsp; That is correct, we do not post up to the minute, hour, or even weekly information on there.&nbsp; After the school year is set and the appropriate information has been updated, our communications director leaves this site alone.&nbsp; Instead, she focuses on another medium coming up next.&nbsp; We really want the website to be a place where parents and families can go to access contact information, forms, letters, lists, documents, and other information that they may need throughout the school year.&nbsp; Finally, this entire site (and all of our websites at The FAIR School) are run by Google Sites.&nbsp; We pay almost nothing for overhead, nothing for updated software, and had very little training at the beginning.&nbsp; Our communications director has done a wonderful job creating templates, working through the small nuances of Sites, and really figuring out how to make it beautiful.</span></li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wZ-OIxPCzZ4/UEzBJ1OmBRI/AAAAAAAAAJA/_y159f29YSs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-09-09+at+7.18.36+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wZ-OIxPCzZ4/UEzBJ1OmBRI/AAAAAAAAAJA/_y159f29YSs/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-09-09+at+7.18.36+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><ul><li class="li1"><span class="s1"><b>Facebook: </b>With over 901 million monthly users, according to the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Facebook-Now-Has-901-Million-Monthly-Users-With-3529853.php" target="_blank">San Francisco Chronicle</a>, we knew that as a school we had to reach people where they were spending their time – on Facebook.&nbsp; So we launched our Facebook page (Check us out at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/FAIR-School-Downtown-Crystal/145976545490374" target="_blank">FAIR School Downtown-Crystal</a>) a few years ago and have never turned back.&nbsp; We use this as our way to communicate up to date information about items such as school pictures, upcoming events for parents and families, PTSA/PTO meetings and a whole lot more.&nbsp; We also use this page to put up student photos, artwork, and share what is going on in our school.&nbsp; A quick scan of our top events right now will reveal photos from the first day of Kindergarten, photos of the day, calendars, and other quick announcements.&nbsp; Furthermore, we absolutely love the fact that Facebook is inherently a community based approach.&nbsp; Parent/guardians, students, and community members can all see, comment on, and access the information about what is happening at school that day.&nbsp; When it gets to awards nights we post professional photos of all our students on the Facebook page so that parent/guardians can access them instead of rushing to the front and trying to get their own photo.&nbsp; Furthermore, we believe that using this tool has brought the school community a bit closer.&nbsp; Personally, I do not get to our other campus every day, but through Facebook I can “see” what they are doing and leave comments about it.&nbsp; We can recognize parents for all the hard work they are doing.&nbsp; We can also share exceptional artwork that is hanging in our hallways.&nbsp; Traditionally this is only seen at conference time, if ever.&nbsp; Now our students, parent/guardians, and community members can access it anytime and almost anywhere through their phones</span></li><li class="li1"><b>Facebook - Part #2</b>:&nbsp;</li></ul><ul><ul><li class="li1">First, all of our students have a signed parent/guardian visual media access.&nbsp; This allows us to take their picture and post it online.&nbsp; We have found that on the whole there are close to ten students in our entire school whose pictures cannot be posted out of over to 1200 students.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li class="li1">Second, the Facebook site is open to anyone, even without a Facebook account.&nbsp; It works just like a website.&nbsp; Parent/Guardians without an account can still see what is going on and access the information, but without an account they have restrictions on what they can comment on, download, etc.&nbsp; This solves the problem of “I don’t have an account because ______.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li class="li1">Third, http://www.facebook.com is not a blocked domain at The FAIR School.&nbsp; We take the approach of teaching students about digital literacy rather than blocking websites.&nbsp; This leads to many courageous conversations in class about the appropriate time and place, but we have found that if the parameters are in place it works out well.&nbsp; Therefore, you will see students online, accessing the Facebook page throughout the day and checking for upcoming events.&nbsp; We have in fact even made it a practice to start many of our elementary school days by brining up the Facebook page during “Morning Meetings” to show photos and discuss upcoming events at the school.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li class="li1">Fourth, this method of communication has been immensely successful.&nbsp; With the new timeline feature in Facebook we can track how often our page has been hit, shared, commented on, etc.&nbsp; With some of our posts last year we were reaching almost 600,000 people.&nbsp; I honestly do not know of a more effective, free, way to communicate with parent/guardians in today’s world.</li></ul></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qNhGieqd6BE/UEzBMOyRIII/AAAAAAAAAJI/Qb-X5lNtOOs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-09-09+at+7.20.08+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qNhGieqd6BE/UEzBMOyRIII/AAAAAAAAAJI/Qb-X5lNtOOs/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-09-09+at+7.20.08+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><ul><li class="li1"><b>Facebook - For Staff:&nbsp;</b>We have also begun to streamline our staff communication through a staff page on Facebook.&nbsp; This one page has more requirements and you have to be accepted to the group in order to view the information or post out things.&nbsp; However, this has dramatically changed how we communicate internally.&nbsp; It has cut down on emails among staff members, virtually eliminated all staff emails, and it has produced a more effective and productive work environment.&nbsp; Before you had to click on, open, and read every single mail message.&nbsp; Now, if it does not apply to you then scroll right on past.&nbsp; We can also be more creative with our posts - sharing links, videos, how-to information, and general announcements.&nbsp; It is cleaner, simpler, and once again it makes sense within today’s world.&nbsp; Plus, this site has become a great resource for our staff.&nbsp; We all constantly learn about upcoming opportunities, trainings, and events and now instead of keeping them to ourselves or writing an all staff email we share it with the community.&nbsp; Today when you walk through the floors you will see staff members often with Facebook open on one tab and their work Gmail account open on the other.&nbsp; Using Facebook as a staff has created a shift, but one that continues to happen.&nbsp; We still have to educate staff on where to post and access information, but with any addition or change there is going to be a wide range of adoption. &nbsp;</li></ul><div class="p2">As you hopefully get an idea, community communication is a little different at The FAIR School.&nbsp; We firmly believe that with these methods and by training our staff, students, parent/guardians, and our community where and how to find information we have become more successful across the board.&nbsp; Parents are “In the Know” and when they know what is going on it allows them to be more engaged in the school. &nbsp;</div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">For more information about communication at The FAIR School check out that <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/wmep.k12.mn.us/fair/communication" target="_blank">page</a> on our website.&nbsp; You may have also seen us in mentioned a recent <a href="http://edudemic.com/2012/08/calling-all-homeschoolers-add-your-social-media-tips-to-this-google-doc/" target="_blank">article</a> on Edudemic about schools using Facebook.&nbsp; Also, there is a whole lot more to this story of communication.&nbsp; If it would be helpful to ask questions, hear more about what we did, see examples or talk to someone, please let me know.&nbsp; I would be happy to connect you with the right person.</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">I would ask each of you reading this post to consider how your school, business, workplace, etc. connects with its community?&nbsp; Is it effective?&nbsp; Why or why not?&nbsp; Is is instant?&nbsp; Are you meeting the needs of your parent/guardians, employees, stakeholders, or targeted audience?&nbsp; How can you change your communication to make it more effective in today’s world? &nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Finally, at The FAIR School we do not have it all figured out.&nbsp; This has been a process to get to this point and one that has come with technical glitches, problems, and at the same time a lot of success.&nbsp; We are constantly thinking about and reframing what we do.&nbsp; If you have comments or suggestions, please leave them below.</span></div>rruggleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004798089838610143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-40610768753711418642012-09-09T06:06:00.000-06:002012-09-09T06:08:02.382-06:00The Right Tool Makes a DifferenceAll the teachers came back two weeks ago and the students last Tuesday.&nbsp; Saying that work was busy was an understatement!&nbsp; As a technology director there are always lots of meetings, questions, and concerns as the new year starts, but at the same time it is fun to catch up, see what people have done during the summer while you got things ready at school, and share in the excitement of the new year. <br /><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pq5GDgBAoFQ/UEyFBwy1nHI/AAAAAAAAAIw/IcskVOzBHqw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-09-09+at+7.00.44+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pq5GDgBAoFQ/UEyFBwy1nHI/AAAAAAAAAIw/IcskVOzBHqw/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-09-09+at+7.00.44+AM.png" width="320" /></a><span class="s1">I am really thankful for a wonderful little phrase that runs around The FAIR School like an epidemic: “Let’s make a Doc.”&nbsp; Yes, they are talking about a Google Document.&nbsp; We have hundreds, thousands, and maybe even hundreds of thousands of these documents.&nbsp; As we enter the third year of our time with Google I have to say that I greatly appreciate many of the features of a Google Applications for Education domain user.&nbsp; One of them is the instantaneous collaboration created by a simple document.&nbsp; Just two weeks alone we had meeting notes, agendas, shared calendars, teachers updating their websites, and our overall workshop week calendar all hosted in our GAFE domain.&nbsp; Last week our leadership team was in a meeting planning the open house and we quickly made a document to share with the rest of the staff.&nbsp; We all pitched in, knew what was going on, and even our assistant principal (who had to step out for a few moments) knew exactly where we were and was on the same page.&nbsp; It worked out really well and the power of Google docs continues to amaze me on a daily basis.</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">However, not every idea we try always works out really well.&nbsp; I remember the first time we sent out a Google Form to participants in our summer school program and we forgot to uncheck the box that says “have respondents login to their domain account to fill out the survey.”&nbsp; Yeah, that was a bit of a mess.&nbsp; Everything has a learning curve to it, but sometimes using the right tool truly does make a difference.&nbsp; It could be a Web 2.0 tool (my favorite right now is an awesome little site called Schoology) or even a great piece of software (SMART Notebook 11 is improved for the Mac), but in a classroom there is a time and a place for every tool. &nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><br /><div class="p1"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i2nwPOl180k/UEyD9JIVeZI/AAAAAAAAAIg/p5TZm4g8VKc/s1600/50-brown-crayon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i2nwPOl180k/UEyD9JIVeZI/AAAAAAAAAIg/p5TZm4g8VKc/s200/50-brown-crayon.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span class="s1">It’s kind of like a box of crayons.&nbsp; If you need to color someone’s hair you might choose a dark or light color depending on your purpose.&nbsp; There are lots of choices, but ultimately you use the one that makes the most sense for your situation.&nbsp; For sure, you do not select the blue crayon.</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Doesn’t the same kind of thinking apply in our classrooms?&nbsp; If we want to have students work on a podcast we probably have them use Audacity, GarageBand, or some other recording software.&nbsp; We do not have them use iMovie.&nbsp; That is the blue crayon and it is used for something totally different.&nbsp; We have to pick the right tool for the situation and outcome we desire to see.</span></div><div class="p2"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_jCdr9IVYTo/UEyD_UVKInI/AAAAAAAAAIo/KBjb_54eU5g/s1600/midnight-blue-crayon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_jCdr9IVYTo/UEyD_UVKInI/AAAAAAAAAIo/KBjb_54eU5g/s200/midnight-blue-crayon.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br />Sometimes this idea of the right crayon for the job is lost within the educational field.&nbsp; Lately I have come across two such examples that just make me scratch my head and wonder, “Why are we using a blue crayon when the brown one is over there and it works just fine?” &nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><br /><br /><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Example One:</b> I was recently out at a high school in Minnesota doing some training and came across this board...at least it looked like a board at first glance.&nbsp; Check out the video:</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxCOheA64Rk_6t8Pw_NnSoI9PAYLOiFd53fhr6_JwnJNlkTFoAf57NXbNC7WmO0wCUzkLZOJyPiKcHEocBVbA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Yes, that is a SMART Board.&nbsp; No joke, and it has Expo markers at the base of it.&nbsp; Anyone using the wrong crayon here?&nbsp; Seriously, how many times have I told my teachers, “Don’t write on the board with anything <i>but</i> the markers that come with the board.&nbsp; No Expo markers, magic markers, pens, etc.”&nbsp; Does that video make any one else’s head just shake?&nbsp; Just imagine if that board was being used to its full potential.&nbsp; What a difference that could make in a classroom!&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><br /><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Example Two:</b> I was recently part of a discussion where we needed to sign up for groups based on individual preferences.&nbsp; This was a very interesting experience because the tool we used to sign up was a wiki.&nbsp; One thing that you should probably know about a wiki, if you don’t already, it only allows one person to edit a page at a time.&nbsp; That is correct, blue crayon use here.&nbsp; It was slightly frustrating and annoying to be “stealing the lock” from other people who were putting their names on the same wiki.&nbsp; There are so many better uses for a wiki than to have people sign-up for their groups and a lot of easier, more initiative tools to have people collaboratively form groups.&nbsp; The use kind of made me scratch my head and wonder.</span><br /><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OzBxEyoIB5s/UEyDzYj1reI/AAAAAAAAAIY/ZFM5RBLGD7Q/s1600/wikispaces.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="91" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OzBxEyoIB5s/UEyDzYj1reI/AAAAAAAAAIY/ZFM5RBLGD7Q/s320/wikispaces.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">As you start off the school year, please consider which color crayon you are using.&nbsp; Do not force a blue crayon into a brown crayon area.&nbsp; Brown is for the hair, blue is for the sky.&nbsp; Furthermore, using pencil and paper works just fine for writing a paper instead of some new, advanced, Web 2.0 tool.&nbsp; We cannot, and should not, choose to use the tool only because we have this idea that it will be “cooler” or “will lead to more engagement.”&nbsp; That is not the main goal in education.&nbsp; We want our students to learn.&nbsp; The tool comes secondary.&nbsp; Keep in mind the educational goal first and then choose the tool.&nbsp; However, make sure you choose a brown crayon instead of a blue one!</span></div>rruggleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004798089838610143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-81442277162499008732012-09-01T21:54:00.001-06:002012-09-01T21:56:41.153-06:00Technology Shift: Relationships, Schools, and Parenting<div><span style="background-color: transparent;">In one of my current classes at UNI called “Technology and Education” taught by Dr. John Solis (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/drsolis" style="background-color: transparent;" target="_blank">@drsolis</a><span style="background-color: transparent;">) we are reading a book by Jane Healy titled “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/FAILURE-CONNECT-Computers-Affect-Childrens/dp/0684855399/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1346551152&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=failure+to+connect" target="_blank">Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children’s Minds – and What We Can Do About It.</a>”&nbsp; So far this reading has been engaging, interesting, and overall a very good learning experience.&nbsp; It has opened my eyes to a number of issues and holes within the current thinking regarding students, families, research, and the overall push to include technology into our schools.&nbsp; Dr. Healy really pushes back on the educational technology norms, even though our copy was published in 1999.&nbsp; Although some of the data is outdated, it still provides a solid foundation to consider the impact technology has had on our society and school settings.&nbsp; In fact, in class we are currently having online discussions about some of the impacts we have seen firsthand.&nbsp; I want to add to that discussion and provide some of my first comments on this text throughout this post. &nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">First of all, technology has a huge potential to alter the adult-child balance of power as we have known it.&nbsp; Potential means something that is not yet realized.&nbsp; It is an opportunity.&nbsp; Technology has the opportunity to make huge strides in a number of areas of our daily lives.&nbsp; In fact, earlier this week I had a discussion with a new parent and co-workers of mine.&nbsp; He was remarking that by the time his daughter was old enough to have a cell phone he predicted that the phone would contain everything from her wallet, home security system, coupons, credit cards, and way more.&nbsp; I mentioned to him that with the addition of <a href="http://www.apple.com/ios/ios6/" target="_blank">iOS 6</a> from Apple this fall some of these changes will be appearing – long before his daughter will ever walk much less own a cell phone. &nbsp;</span>However, I think we can all agree that technology on the whole is a game changer and especially in education.&nbsp; In fact, Dr. Healy does believe that using technology can be successful in an educational setting, but that it is “not automatic, inexpensive, or attained without a great deal of thought and effort” (22).&nbsp; I totally agree with her.&nbsp; We all have seen the new stories of the most recent school district to implement a 1:1 Program and it shows wonderful pictures of students receiving bright, shiny devices.&nbsp; However, how many people are asking the hard questions about how these devices are being implemented, what the students are really learning, and how the addition of these devices will transform the classrooms?&nbsp; My guess is that there are not enough people like that in our communities. &nbsp;</div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Technology, as defined by Dr. Healy, is “any tool or medium that helps people accomplish tasks or produce products more efficiently” (30).&nbsp; Not only does technology bring about a huge potential to transform our daily lives, but it will also alter the adult-child balance of power.&nbsp; Traditionally our parents have taught us just about everything we know from changing the oil in our cars, planting vegetables in our gardens, and baking a cake.&nbsp; Nothing really came along that kids could do better or more effectively than our parents until technology, and specifically computers, came on the scene.&nbsp; Since then kids have been teaching their parents a new skill – using the computer, Internet, cell phone, and just about everything technological.&nbsp; I still remember my dad introducing me to MS-DOS prompt and the ins and outs of his Leading Edge computer.&nbsp; It was a fantastic first computer, but by the time our family got a second computer I was teaching my dad things that he did not know about the technology.&nbsp; Even today I still receive phone calls from him about how to navigate around his Mac, where the toolbox is in MS Office, and how to print photos from iPhoto.&nbsp; He is a great learner, but the teacher is his son.&nbsp; Does this situation remind anyone of their own lives?&nbsp; Technology has altered the balance of power in parent-child and also adult-child relationships.&nbsp; Recently iPads were rolled out to sixth grade students in Basehor, Kansas.&nbsp; One teacher remarked in this <a href="http://www.basehorinfo.com/news/2012/aug/30/its-just-their-world-ipads-changing-basehor-linwoo/" target="_blank">article</a> about on the relationship the iPads have created:&nbsp; “Technology fits perfectly with their lives...and they have delighted in teaching others including the teachers.”&nbsp; Today more and more children are teaching their parents skills on the computer.&nbsp; They pick it up quicker, are more efficient, and by in large are happy to assist clueless appearing adults with a technology task.&nbsp; I firmly believe that technology not only has the potential, but that it <i>has</i> changed the balance of power in our relationships with children.</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Furthermore, the addition of technology into our schools has also changed the balance of power between students and teachers.&nbsp; Now our teachers are taught by our students.&nbsp; When was the last time a second grader assisted you with turning on the SMART Board or troubleshooting a YouTube issue?&nbsp; Believe me it happens more frequently than it ever did before.&nbsp; I think all technology directors have those students within their schools that have more experience with scripting, coding, and computers than they do.&nbsp; The question is if they are creating a network that competes with their skills or if they invite them into the fold.&nbsp; But we need to be cautious that the addition of technology into our schools means that it is a good thing.&nbsp; Dr. Healy has taught me that much so far in the three chapters I have read.&nbsp; We need to be cautiously optimistic.&nbsp; Take for instance another quote from the Kansas <a href="http://www.basehorinfo.com/news/2012/aug/30/its-just-their-world-ipads-changing-basehor-linwoo/" target="_blank">article</a> where the teacher also commented on the effectiveness of the 1:1 Program.&nbsp; He says, “The students with the iPads seem to be more focused in class...‘They’re quieter.’”&nbsp; Just because students are quiet does not mean that they are engaged or that they are learning something beneficial from their iPads.&nbsp; I have seen time and time again a technology that has been introduced into the classroom that does not appear to have a good reason for existing there.&nbsp; Instead, the teacher wanted to “try something out.”&nbsp; We cannot continue to allow our instructors to add technology into our classrooms if it does not directly benefit our students.&nbsp; They see right through it every time.&nbsp; More intriguing to me is the fact that our students end up bailing out our teachers when the thing they wanted to try out backfires, messes up, or does not work properly.&nbsp; The balance of power between our students and teachers, just like our children and parents, <i>has</i> changed as a result of technology.</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p3"><span class="s2">Technology continues to change the schooling as we know it.&nbsp; This is a huge topic to consider and one that Dr. Healy does a great job of in her book.&nbsp; I did want to bring a few additional thoughts to the table on this subject.&nbsp; One, if technology is effectively and appropriately integrated into the curriculum it can create dramatic changes.&nbsp; Take for instance a recent blog <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/21/tech/web/kids-tech-education/index.html" target="_blank">post</a> on CNN’s Schools of Thought about flipping classrooms where Stacy Roshan says, “</span><span class="s1">Using technology has allowed me to bring compassion back into an otherwise overly stressful classroom environment. The flipped classroom has transformed the relationships that I am able to build with my students, and has made class time incredibly more pleasant for everyone. Quite simply, the flipped classroom has allowed me to create a calm, inspiring environment where students can learn, thrive and feel supported, which is truly a magnificent feeling.”&nbsp; Technology can have a truly magical impact on our students’ learning.&nbsp; Second, teachers need to consider the role they now play in our schools.&nbsp; No longer can they be the “sage on the stage,” but instead they need to fulfill a number of roles. &nbsp;In Dr. Healy's text she notes that "Many educators think traditional roles must change because today's students are increasingly difficult to teach" (40). &nbsp;However, only a few paragraphs later she interviews a middle-school teacher who firmly believes that computers will "'force a change in the way we all do school'" (40). &nbsp;In fact, a&nbsp;recent “Mind/Shift” blog titled <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/08/understanding-learning-analytics-and-student-data/" target="_blank">“Understanding Learning Analytics and Student Data”</a> captured the many roles teachers need to or should be embracing in our classrooms today.&nbsp; In a very easy to understand graphic chart they discuss the three roles of facilitator, analyst, and instructor that a teacher needs to fulfill.&nbsp; More often than not we are still being instructors and not the other two.&nbsp; We need to put our primary notions, pride, and to some degree former teaching aside and embrace the new normal.&nbsp; Our students learn in different ways and we need to adapt our instructional methods and furthermore our roles to match them.&nbsp; Third, the role of technology in our classrooms needs to be reframed.&nbsp; Are we using a computer strictly as a substitution for a typewriter?&nbsp; Is it just a glorified piece of paper and a pencil?&nbsp; If that is the case why are we using it?&nbsp; Dr. Puentedura has some great research out there on technology integration called <a href="http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2012/08/23/SAMR_BackgroundExemplars.pdf" target="_blank">“The SAMR Model.”</a>&nbsp; In it he considers how technology can be used in two main categories and two sub categories.&nbsp; These are using technology to enhance (substitution or augmentation) or to transform (modification or redefinition).&nbsp; His thinking and work has been fundamental in reframing how we think about technology and technology at The FAIR School.&nbsp; I strongly recommend anyone interested in technology integration to review his work.&nbsp; Technology continues to change the way we as educators teach and how we interact with our students on a daily basis. &nbsp;</span></div><div class="p4"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s3">With the addition of new technology and the shift of balance from adults to kids, parents should not yield any power to their media-saturated children.&nbsp; Dr. Healy notes in her book that </span><span class="s1">“A major problem was that few knew how to support their child’s use of the technology and allowed children unlimited and unsupervised computer use” (21).&nbsp; Has anyone else ever seen this before?&nbsp; Personally, I cannot tell you how many times I get phone calls from concerned parents that want me, as the technology director, to lock down their child’s computer and protect them from Facebook, YouTube, or other late night distractions.&nbsp; I kindly listen to their issues, take the computer from the child, and then comes the hard part – I have to explain to the student why their parent wants the computer to only exist at school.&nbsp; I honestly cannot lie to them about the shortfalls at home, and more often than not they understand, but it makes me consider the parenting going on at home.&nbsp; I just wish that more often than not a parent would be the parent and take matters into their own hands.&nbsp; They are in charge of all things within their home, which includes the school owned computer.&nbsp; If they do not like the way it is being used, then take it.&nbsp; It is that simple some times.&nbsp; An interesting shift has&nbsp;occurred in parents' mindset though. &nbsp;According to recent research posted in a recent CNN article, titled "<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/21/tech/web/kids-tech-education/index.html" target="_blank">Why Parents Should Educate Their Kids About Tech</a>," 70% of parents believe schools should do more to educate their children about online safety. &nbsp;Maybe it is the schools' responsibility, but then again maybe it is the parents' responsibility. &nbsp;Either way it is a point of contention moving forward.&nbsp;&nbsp;However, if a parent wants some more protection from the media-saturated culture that children live in today there are a few suggested they might take.&nbsp; First, parents can use a wonderful application built into every Mac called “Parental Controls.”&nbsp; In this blog <a href="http://gigaom.com/apple/kid-proofing-a-mac-with-parental-controls/" target="_blank">post</a> they can learn how to set up time limits, lock down the computer so that their child does not go to certain web sites, or have other permissions to access files on the computer.&nbsp; Second, parents can turn on their content filtering solution at home.&nbsp; Most wireless routers these days come with a built in content filter that will allow parents to monitor and block certain web sites at home.&nbsp; Parents need to read up, turn on, and then begin to protect their families in this way.&nbsp; Third, parents can also enroll their home Internet into a content filtering solution such as <a href="http://www.opendns.com/home-solutions/" target="_blank">OpenDNS</a>.&nbsp; At my home, even though we do not have any children, we still use this solution to protect ourselves from unwanted content and it makes our Internet faster as well.&nbsp; Fourth, parents need to make sure that they do not yield any power to the children by setting clear boundaries.&nbsp; Research posted on <a href="http://www.parentfurther.com/blog/setting-boundaries-technology" target="_blank">Parent Further</a> indicated that kids who do not have boundaries with technology: “Have trouble sleeping and get less sleep, Exercise less and are more prone to obesity, Do less homework, Read less, Spend less time with their families, and Have a harder time making good decisions.”&nbsp; Therefore, it is very important that parents create technology boundaries with their children.&nbsp; Fifth and finally, parents need to remember an important point from Dr. Healy: “Your kid may be teaching you about the machine, but you are still in charge of teaching things that are far more important!” (42).&nbsp; Parents, you are in charge at home.&nbsp; Please take charge of the situation and do not give any power to your media-saturated children.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1">Thoughts? &nbsp;Opinions? &nbsp;Do you agree or disagree? &nbsp;Please leave your comments below!</div>rugglesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04442878455219664244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-5927502081686691962012-08-26T07:22:00.000-06:002012-08-26T07:22:51.339-06:002 Years of iTeachers<span style="font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">A little while back I taught a graduate course for the University of Saint Mary's in Minnesota titled iTeacher in St. Cloud, MN. &nbsp;My co-teacher and I focused specifically on the integration of iPods and iPads into our learners' curriculums, hence the name "iTeacher." &nbsp;It was a really fun week where I learned a lot about teaching and iOS devices and our learners walked away with some solid implementation ideas.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">One thing I am really proud of when I teach a course like this is that I leave my learners with the resources to come back to after our time together is physically over. &nbsp;So I went ahead and created a simple and quick Google Site for our course. &nbsp;It has on the resource page a whole host of items that may or may not be helpful to someone as they look at, decide on, or implement iOS devices in their environment. &nbsp;Access to that page, and the entire website, can be found by clicking this <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/smugpde5476a/resources" target="_blank">link</a>.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">That week was a lot of fun, but one of the more valuable experiences for the learners there was when I stopped the direct instruction and came and sat down with them and discussed what I personally had learned from directing iOS deployments and programs for the last two and a half years. &nbsp;They asked that &nbsp;I would share this list with them on my blog. &nbsp;So here goes, in no particular order, my personal reflections:</span></span><br /><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b>Have a plan. &nbsp;</b>I think this goes without saying, but you would not believe the number of school districts that I have consulted with that do not have a clear direction or idea where they are going with the iOS devices in their school setting. &nbsp;Who is going to use them? &nbsp;How long are they going to use them? &nbsp;Who will be syncing them? &nbsp;Have you checked your wireless and made sure that it can handle a large number of iOS devices on it? &nbsp;Which model of app purchasing are you going to deploy in your environment?</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b>Do your research.</b>&nbsp; There are a lot of people out there that have written much on the topic of iOS integration within curriculums and school settings. &nbsp;What do they say? &nbsp;What has been the most effective? &nbsp;At The FAIR School we are consistently hosting schools and individuals alike that want to know more about our programs, what we are doing, and how we make it work in our classrooms. &nbsp;Have you visited another school? &nbsp;Do you know what they do with the iOS devices after the day is over? &nbsp;How do you store them throughout the summer? &nbsp;How are they actually implemented into the curriculum?</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b>Have support lined up.</b>&nbsp; Syncing these devices takes time plain and simple. &nbsp;Who is going to invest their time to make sure they are done correctly and efficiently? &nbsp;Are you going to use a Mac or a PC for syncing? &nbsp;I will say that if you use a PC expect syncing to take hours longer than using a Mac. &nbsp;Apple has specifically made a tool for syncing devices, but it can only run on a Mac - typical. &nbsp;It's worth the look at Configurator if you plan on having more than 20 devices for sure. &nbsp;Also, where do you go when a question comes up? &nbsp;What support network can you reach out to? &nbsp;Who will answer your question in a timely and appropriate manner?</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><b style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Have a schedule set-up.</b><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">&nbsp; This is one of the items that we added at The FAIR School last year in quarter four and something that I wish we had done years ago. &nbsp;This schedule now lists specifically when each iOS cart will be synced and I can put in, based on my schedule, how long it is going to take. &nbsp;In addition, I plan a meeting about a week prior to syncing and make sure that the Golden Master iOS device is ready and set-up exactly like my teachers want. &nbsp;This&nbsp;alleviates&nbsp;the stress when they go to open a cart and the app they need for instruction is not listed there. &nbsp;This schedule is also shared among the other iOS teachers so they have a good handle on when other teams are syncing and what my availability looks like as well. &nbsp;However, most importantly it allows for me to keep my&nbsp;sanity&nbsp;instead of syncing the devices on a random schedule or whenever an instructor found "a really great app." &nbsp;One final thing on this point to consider is the length and time software updates take. &nbsp;I still remember the days of taking one iPad at a time and running a software update. &nbsp;You think it takes a long time now, think about back then! &nbsp;Thankfully the resources came along to use Xcode and now Configurator to make the process move a lot faster, but it still will take a while. &nbsp;Plan a few days to make sure everything is set back up after a software update. &nbsp;Consider also if you really need to do a software update. &nbsp;Sometimes it is better, especially with iOS 6 coming out, to wait the school year before updating unless there is some compelling reason to move quickly to the new iOS.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><b style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Have the money stuff figured out.</b><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">&nbsp; Purchasing apps in iTunes is one thing, but purchasing apps in the Volume Purchasing Program is something totally different. &nbsp;Make sure to do your research and have your Program&nbsp;Facilitator&nbsp;set-up and decide as an organization which roles you are going to give to individual teachers or staff. &nbsp;Who will be purchasing apps and how will they get them to the students? &nbsp;One other big consideration is trying out new apps. &nbsp;I make it a point to have some funds on hand to test out applications for my teachers. &nbsp;I don't want to spend $100.00 on an app that will not work in their class, but I will spend $1.00 for them to try it. &nbsp;I have no problem purchasing one code and then sending it to them to evaluate. &nbsp;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><b style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Have your policies in place.</b><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">&nbsp; How will students carry their iOS devices to their seat? &nbsp;How will they interact with them at their desk? &nbsp;What happens if a student drops a device? &nbsp;What about if they break their headphones? &nbsp;Any of these concerns cause a technology director to toss over in bed at night. &nbsp;Having these set policies and plans in place make your program move forward a lot quicker and more&nbsp;efficiently&nbsp;as well. &nbsp;One thing we teach our elementary students is to hug their iPad when they walk back to their desk from the cart in the same manner that they hug a book when they get it from our leveled library. &nbsp;If the students already know the language, why reinvent the wheel just because it is a different medium? &nbsp;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b>Setup the expectations.</b>&nbsp; Just like we have expectations for our students in the classroom, we also have expectations on our staff for use on the use of iOS devices. &nbsp;In elementary we mirror the implementation of the iPads with our Daily 5 program and PALS. &nbsp;Together these two tools allow us to say that at Day 1 the iPads will be in place within our classrooms and by Day 10 they will be part of the rotation within at least one of the five activities - mainly listening to reading. &nbsp;After that we have a few other expectations, but it sits on our teachers to hit the guidelines that we set for them. &nbsp;Furthermore, we had the expectation that throughout the summer all our iOS using staff members would come to a training we set-up called "iPad Camp." &nbsp;They dedicated their mornings to really integrating the devices into their curriculums, talking about expectations, and overall deployment as a team. &nbsp;It was an effective and useful week and something that would not have happened without the expectation that they were to arrive each day.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b>Don't confuse the purpose. &nbsp;</b>iOS devices are awesome tools to aid in instruction and learning within the classroom. &nbsp;Period. &nbsp;They should not be confused with anything else such as a gaming device, play toy, or a classroom teacher. &nbsp;This specific purpose should allow your teachers to drive home the implementation of them early and allow them to be used specifically and intentionally within your classrooms. &nbsp;Keep that in mind as you or your team plan.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><b style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Think about implementing a core set of apps school or district wide.</b><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">&nbsp; As part of "iPad Camp" we determined a specific and core set of applications that will be loaded onto each iPad district wide. &nbsp;These ranged from things like Accelerated Reader to PDF-Notes to the iTalk Recorder. &nbsp;There were not many applications, but every decided that the&nbsp;continuity required for students was essential moving forward. &nbsp;In addition, they also decided on the naming of folders to be very similar. &nbsp;For instance, everyone has an LTR folder on their iPads (LTR stands for Listen to Reading), but the content within that folder is different for each classroom or grade level. &nbsp;This overall decision will only help to strengthen our program moving forward as we are on the same page school and district wide. &nbsp;It will not matter who they had in 1st Grade because there is at least a core set of applications that will look familiar.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b>Think about the basics. &nbsp;</b>How will the iOS devices be stored and locked up each day? &nbsp;How will you care for them? &nbsp;Are the students or staff responsible for cleaning them? &nbsp;Will you purchase styluses? &nbsp;What about back covers? &nbsp;Headphones? &nbsp;Keyboards? &nbsp;Each of these decisions needs to occur even before the iPads arrive within your building. &nbsp;Are you in an environment where the devices need to be shared? &nbsp;Then what does that look like and how much time will each teacher have with them? &nbsp;Is there a method to shift hours or time if a specific instructor does not utilize them well or does not implement them at all? &nbsp;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b>Model, model, and model some more. &nbsp;</b>I think it goes without saying that students do not pick up a concept the first time they interact with a piece of technology. &nbsp;Continually model for your students how to handle the device, how to use the organized folders on you iOS devices, and how to use one finger to move from app to app. &nbsp;Students love the iOS devices, but sometime they forget the expectations, rules, guidelines, and best practices you have setup in your classroom.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b>Figure out the long range implementation plan.</b>&nbsp; Everything that deals with our iOS devices goes back to the individual instructor's scope and sequence. &nbsp;The iPad has to be tied into the curriculum in meaningful and relevant ways. &nbsp;We frame it as a tool and we use it as a tool and nothing else. &nbsp;Then when teachers have looked at their scope and sequence we have them match apps with their standards and then also fill our an app rubric to match each app. &nbsp;We want to know that the apps we are syncing have been tested and really do fit with the educational goal at hand. &nbsp;These types of documents also provide a more linear discussion among teams and schools as to who is using what, where, and why, which only leads us to strengthening our iOS program.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b>Celebrate your successes. &nbsp;</b>More often than not the year goes by and no one ever says "Good job," "Well done," or "What a difference that has made in your classroom," but I encourage you to take the time to meet with your team(s) and really celebrate what you are doing. &nbsp;Share it with the world and continue to reflect on what you have learned so that the next day, month, or year is better than the last one.</span></span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: Crimson Text;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">That's my list of reflections for now. &nbsp;I am surely forgetting something, but the ride has been incredible. &nbsp;To think of a device that only five or six years ago was not on the commercial market and is now in our classrooms and successfully implemented is a huge accomplishment for both me and many of my fellow colleagues around the state, country, and world. &nbsp;Keep up the good work being iTeachers!</span></span></div>rruggleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004798089838610143noreply@blogger.comMinneapolis, MN, USA44.983334 -93.2666744.893485 -93.4245985 45.073183 -93.108741500000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-83432867738601520602012-07-10T08:08:00.000-06:002012-07-10T08:08:45.489-06:00Why Do All the Good, Free Tools End? - Part 2<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;I <a href="http://fiftynineminutes.blogspot.com/2012/06/why-do-all-good-free-tools-end.html" target="_blank">wrote previously</a> about the demise of <a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/" target="_blank">CoverItLive</a> as it moved to a paid-per-click model. &nbsp;I also wrote about its immense impact on the educational experience in my classroom and others that I have worked in before as well.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;I am here to say that my faith and use of CoverItLive has returned. &nbsp;I mentioned that as a nonprofit educators were encouraged to send them a message and "a Customer Support representative will get in touch with you." &nbsp;I went ahead immediately when this message came out and filled out the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/index.php?option=com_altcaster&amp;task=contactus&amp;Itemid=151&amp;type_id=Pricing%20And%20Purchasing" target="_blank">response form</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. &nbsp;Brittany responded to my message with an email and said this:</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><br /></i></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Thank you for your application. We’re pleased to tell you that you’ve been approved for a free&nbsp;</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i>version of our account for educational use in a classroom. I’ve made the following changes to&nbsp;</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i>your account to set you up. &nbsp;I’ve created what we call an Enterprise Account (EA) for you named&nbsp;</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i>“FAIR School&nbsp;Downtown,"&nbsp;which is now designated as our “Custom Plan” with non-profit&nbsp;</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i>status, which means&nbsp;no charges, unlimited access. I’ve associated your individual&nbsp;CiL account&nbsp;</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i>with this EA account.</i></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;This is great news! &nbsp;Thank you CoverItLive. &nbsp;</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Obviously I cannot guarantee that you will have the same results, but it is nice to know that there are some companies out there that still recognize the importance of providing a free tool to educators.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span></div>Mr. Rugglesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-36790980512740317482012-07-10T06:48:00.004-06:002012-07-10T08:18:23.340-06:00Summer Break Begins...Or Ends?Summer break bring about thoughts of barbecues, warm weather, and good times at the cabin. &nbsp;However, for most technology staff the summer is the busiest time of the year. &nbsp;This summer for me has been no exception. &nbsp;I have spent the past two weeks and the holiday hanging out with friends, family, and relaxing. &nbsp;I did get a little work done at FAIR School as new equipment has begun to arrive in our building. &nbsp;Actually a lot of new equipment has come in and I expect our yearly shipment of 9th grade computers today. &nbsp;Here we go! &nbsp;I also had the awesome opportunity to teach two graduate courses for Saint Mary's University – iPads, iPods, and iBooks Author and Google Applications for Education. &nbsp;There will be a lot more on these endeavors coming soon, but for now I wanted to let you know that the vacation time from writing on this blog is over. &nbsp;It is a nice change of pace to step back, take a short break, and enjoy the weather, but the time has come. &nbsp;Our 1:1 programs do not get ready by themselves (roughly 300 MacBooks to get ready for grades 9-12 and 160 iPads in grades K-2) not to mention the full compliment of staff computer changes, network additions, new software coming in, and staff development trainings to conduct. &nbsp;The time has come put the head down and get some things accomplished!<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xhvfF-dvvug/T_w46R2VBVI/AAAAAAAAAB8/NsWZN0SolG8/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xhvfF-dvvug/T_w46R2VBVI/AAAAAAAAAB8/NsWZN0SolG8/s200/photo.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New equipment about to be processed</td></tr></tbody></table>One exciting change is that we will working with <a href="http://www.jamfsoftware.com/" target="_blank">JAMF Software</a> and the Casper Suite for this upcoming school year to manage and oversee all our Apple devices district wide. &nbsp;I have seen with this software package in action, tested it out for a few months, and I can truly say this will make the job of any technology director, integrationist, or your normal technician a lot easier. &nbsp;It has some high level functionality (remote wipe, scripting commands, and inventory control features) as well as basic functionality (package imaging, deployment of apps, integration with Configurator, and self service) that I am really excited about. &nbsp;You know that only a geek looks forward to installing a very complicated software suite! &nbsp;We got to a point in our district that overseeing and deploying over 1,000 Apple devices was a bit much for three people to manage on a daily basis. &nbsp;So we looked at a mobile device management (MDM) solution and landed with JAMF Software. &nbsp;Outside of their great product, I enjoy the fact that these guys are local (Minneapolis, MN), so if I have a question or something is not working I can go knock on their door. &nbsp;Honestly though, this company is leading the way in the area of MDMs and I look forward to deploying this solution later this month. <br /><br />Even though I took a short break from writing, my mind has not stopped working on some great upcoming posts. &nbsp;Here are a few of the topics:<br />-<i>2 Years of iTeachers</i>: My personal reflections on a running and working with our 1:1 iPad program.<br />-<i>The Role of a SMART Board Today</i>: What can we do with one in today's world that we cannot do&nbsp;with an iPad? &nbsp;Where do we find SMART Boards located? &nbsp;Why should we still buy them?<br />-<i>The Twitter Craze and Why You Should Get Involved</i>: A reflection on what I have learned about using&nbsp;Twitter over the years and the reasons for getting a Twitter account.<br />-<i>Should We Start Differentiating in Graduate Courses</i>: A close look at teaching a recent Google&nbsp;Applications for Education course and the need to flip and differentiate the instruction.Mr. Rugglesnoreply@blogger.comMinneapolis, MN, USA44.983334 -93.2666744.893485 -93.4245985 45.073183 -93.108741500000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-51384001135277962352012-06-16T14:34:00.000-06:002012-06-16T14:38:37.843-06:00Summer Staff Training Here We ComeSummer time brings about thoughts of grilling out, time on the lake, and sleeping in for most.&nbsp; However, for technology staff like me it also means the busiest time of the year.&nbsp; We have roughly a thousand devices to re-image and configure over the next two and a half months, new software to implement, four summer programs to support, and if that wasn’t enough there is always the summer training for staff.&nbsp; In our district we specifically ask our teachers and staff what type of training they are looking for and then go out and try to schedule what we can.&nbsp; This summer I am particularly looking forward to a week of training, creation, and specifically integration of our iOS devices throughout the district.&nbsp; Everyone will be coming together from Kindergarten through second grade, middle school teachers, special education, and even a few high school teachers to plan, dream, and really figure out how we can take our successful 1:1 iOS Program and make it even more effective.&nbsp; Stay tuned for more information on this week in early August.<br /><div class="p1"><br />However, for staff that do not have iOS devices we also will be running a variety of training sessions throughout the summer.&nbsp; We have done this a number of times before and have even used Google Forms for them to register.&nbsp; Then to confirm their registration and send reminders we send out text messages to the staff.&nbsp; Our principal had the idea roughly a year and a half ago to begin communicating with staff during the summer in a way that would be appropriate and easy for them – text messages.&nbsp; They wouldn’t have to login it to their school email account and the messages would be kept short.&nbsp; So far this process has worked out really well and we look forward to communicating with our families via text message more this fall.&nbsp; Staff can never get enough training though so we are consistently reaching out and trying to find methods and ways for them to learn things on their schedule. <br /><br />One way of solving this problem is through video tutorials.&nbsp; As a school district we invested in a large video tutorial library through a third party a year ago, but then we decided after our one year review that not enough of our staff watched the videos to justify the cost we were paying.&nbsp; Yes, we maybe could have done a better job implementing them into our environment, but we were also up against a staff that is stretched thin already and asking them to watch video tutorials in their free time seemed a bit silly.&nbsp; So instead we are moving to create an in-house video tutorial library of important things staff need to know.&nbsp; For instance: how to check your email, how to submit your grades, where the purchase requests can be found, and who to call when you have a technology problem.&nbsp; All of these videos will be housed in the Videos app as part of our Google Apps for Education Suite.&nbsp; The majority of them will be private and not viewable to the public, but all our staff will be able to access them with a click of a button.&nbsp; It will be nice, slick, and a lot cheaper than our third party solution.&nbsp; Probably the best part about this solution is that the content we create can be directed specifically for our staff. <br /><br />However, every once in a while an opportunity to assist with staff development comes up and it is just to good to pass up on.&nbsp; Such was the case when <a href="http://saroyalstech.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Tyler Hellemann</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/#!/MrHellmann" target="_blank">@MrHellmann</a>), a cohort member from my UNI Masters Degree Program, sent me a message asking if I wanted to help him create a Google Form video.&nbsp; Of course I agreed and we set off creating a collaborative document with an outline and parts of the script.&nbsp; We decided early on that we wanted to complete the presentation together, but then after looking around and trying a variety of different tools we decided it would be easier to just film it separately and then put the two pieces together.&nbsp; So that’s exactly what we did.&nbsp; He used Screencast-o-Matic to capture the audio and video on his end, exported it, and then sent it to me.&nbsp; I used Jing Pro to capture my audio and video, exported it, and then dropped both pieces into iMovie.&nbsp; After a little tinkering we came up with this video:<br /></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/3j6Hm9nnY3o?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="p2"><br /><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Clearly this video isn’t going to win us an Oscar or Emmy anytime soon, but the content about how to use a Google Form hopefully got across.&nbsp; We thought it did and that’s why we will be using this video during our summer and fall technology trainings at our respective schools.</span><br /><br />Please enjoy this time of year – whether you are imaging computers, training staff, or hanging out on the lake – because summer is here!</div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span></div>rugglesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04442878455219664244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-68946971636039587442012-06-10T18:54:00.000-06:002012-06-10T19:41:33.764-06:00Creative Commons 101In class recently we have been discussing Creative Commons (CC) and licensing the work we create. &nbsp;Personally, I heard about CC back in Colorado at a technology conference and was a little confused. &nbsp;There appeared to be a number of rules and stipulations all around the copyright issue, but then there were also many exceptions to that rule. &nbsp;Honestly, I absorbed the information and let it sit on the shelf for the past four years – until now. <br /><br />Creative Commons is a big deal. &nbsp;We all create things, post things online, and want to be credited for our work if others use it. &nbsp;In a perfect world we would always be contacted if someone wanted to use our work AND we would always contact the author of a work we would want to use. &nbsp;Let's be realistic though, this does not always happen. &nbsp;Therefore, in an effort to help us learn the basics of copyright and Creative Commons our professors put together <a href="http://zeitz.podomatic.com/entry/2012-06-08T16_53_57-07_00" target="_blank">this great enhanced podcast</a>. &nbsp;If you still have questions after this podcast, another great resource I found for educators &nbsp;is also a post on The EduBlogger called <a href="http://theedublogger.com/2012/02/09/the-educators-guide-to-copyright-fair-use-and-creative-commons/" target="_blank">"The Educator's Guide to Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons."</a><br /><br />After reading all the resources and doing some own personal reflection, I figured it was my time to get into the Creative Commons arena. &nbsp;I write, create, and publish stuff online and I might as well keep my copyright, but allow people to copy and distribute my work – provided they give me credit. &nbsp;I can do this easily with a&nbsp;<a href="http://creativecommons.org/choose/" target="_blank">Creative Commons</a>&nbsp;license. &nbsp;Then I was thinking, what would be the easiest and quickest way to try this out? &nbsp;How about getting a CC license for my blog? &nbsp;And that is exactly what I did. &nbsp;You can see the posting over on the right side of the screen and the license from CC as to how people can use my content as well. <br /><br />In the spirit of the Distributed Learning Community I went ahead and created this video of how you can create a CC license for your blog:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/iLZ9KinidzA?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><br />These same general steps apply with an image, text, or other media format. <br /><br />Do you have a CC license for your blog? &nbsp;Why not? &nbsp;I hope that you look into the information on CC and get a few licenses. &nbsp;It just makes sense in today's world!Mr. Rugglesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-73912333802948147442012-06-03T18:18:00.000-06:002012-06-03T18:57:00.177-06:00Why Do All the Good, Free Tools End?<br />It seems as though another good Web 2.0 tool has bit the dust, metaphorically speaking of course. &nbsp;<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/" target="_blank">CoveritLive</a>&nbsp;has gone to a paid per click model. &nbsp;Bummer, right? &nbsp;If you are not familiar with this tool here is the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=335" target="_blank">basic description</a>.<br /><br />I was personally introduced to this tool back in the winter of 2009 during student teaching in CO. &nbsp;Back then it was a bit underdeveloped, but the functionality was still flat out amazing. &nbsp;The ability it had then (and still has today) is to create an interactive chat and embed it into your blog. &nbsp;The educational application for me was to use this tool in class discussions. &nbsp;In addition this tool had a moderation pane that allows the comments to be approved prior to them being posted. &nbsp;This tool worked really well for classroom discussions, but it had a variety of other features that worked in an educational setting (quick forms, links, and stats).<br /><br />Unfortunately, like many Web 2.0 tools, this has gone to a paid version. &nbsp;It did have a paid option in the past, but for education it was strictly free. &nbsp;For those that wanted to receive more options there were of course paid options. &nbsp;However, now there is only one free option. &nbsp;Here is their new&nbsp;language&nbsp;around the new cost options: "Our pricing is defined by the number of clicks - that is, people actually clicking into the live events on your website or mobile app - you accumulate over a billing period." &nbsp;The number of clicks for a free account is 25 per month. &nbsp;This is a bit of an impossible threshold for an average teacher. &nbsp;When I am teaching a novel and want to have discussions about it using this tool I generally have two or three discussions a week and each of my 25 students is accessing and clicking on the CoverItLive link. &nbsp;And I only teach one class! &nbsp;Imagine if you taught five sections with an average number of students at 25 and had two discussions a week for four weeks. &nbsp;That equals out to roughly 1,000 clicks per month. &nbsp;Under the new&nbsp;<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=62&amp;Itemid=155" target="_blank">pricing</a>&nbsp;that teacher or school district would have to purchase the "Lite" account for $49 per month. &nbsp;Granted I would still strongly make a case for purchasing this, but the frustration remains – it was free and now it is paid. &nbsp;What's up with that?<br /><br />Finally, in their nice email explaining all this to their customers they did state that for education or other non-profits to contact their&nbsp;<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/index.php?option=com_altcaster&amp;task=contactus&amp;Itemid=151&amp;type_id=Pricing%20And%20Purchasing" target="_blank">Customer Support&nbsp;Representatives</a>&nbsp;for other pricing options. &nbsp;I, naturally, went ahead and contacted them earlier this week. &nbsp;I have yet to hear back from them, but when I do, I will be sure to update this post.<br /><br />Until then I will begin the conversation with my teachers and figure out who is using this tool and count the monthly number of "clicks" we might have. &nbsp;Yet another good, free tool that has gone paid. &nbsp;Bummer. <br /><br />Have you used CoveritLive before? &nbsp;Did you enjoy using it in your classroom or educational setting? &nbsp;Why do all these free tools start to be paid? &nbsp;Will you look into the paid version(s) of CoveritLive?rruggleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004798089838610143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-7579873965464344792012-05-28T07:35:00.000-06:002012-05-28T07:36:01.807-06:00VoiceThread and Van Meter SchoolsIn class this week we were asked to use a Web 2.0 collaboration tool called VoiceThread. &nbsp;At its core VoiceThread is a "conversation in the cloud." &nbsp;Think Google Docs merged with Google Voice and Video in a simple, easy to use interface. &nbsp;Check it out <a href="http://voicethread.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. &nbsp;Have you used this in your classroom before? &nbsp;I know our Biology teacher has used this tool multiple times before, but I never really understood the power of it until this class assignment. &nbsp;It was great to see slides, PDFs, and a video while other people comment in real time along the side. &nbsp;My cohort members have logged in at different times and left comments on different slides so it was great to see what they said. &nbsp;Overall, I am very impressed with this tool and look forward to using it in my classroom in the future.<br /><br />The VoiceThread that we looked at today was all about Van Meter Schools in Iowa (<a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&amp;safe=active&amp;q=van+meter,+iowa&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;hq=&amp;hnear=0x87ec1628f3e7e3ad:0xea70cac793d7d89b,Van+Meter,+IA&amp;gl=us&amp;ei=KHvDT_nbFu7q2wWZos1W&amp;oi=local_group&amp;ved=0CHIQtgM" target="_blank">Map</a>). &nbsp;A key component that we looked at was their <a href="http://vimeo.com/32991364" target="_blank">promotional video</a>. &nbsp;There are really four things that I noticed in this video that I wanted to comment further on in this post:<br /><br /><b>1.) Van Meter Schools is a K-12 model that has some really cool things going on. </b>&nbsp;It reminded me a lot of the district and school that I work in currently. &nbsp;We are also K-12 and our class sizes are small as well. &nbsp;We have also integrated technology throughout the curriculum – from iPads in elementary and middle school to MacBooks in our 8-12 grade classrooms. &nbsp;For more information on <a href="http://www.vmbulldogs.com/" target="_blank">Van Meter Schools</a> or <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/wmep.k12.mn.us/fair/" target="_blank">FAIR School</a> click the links. &nbsp;It was great to see another school doing similar things as we are in Minneapolis.<br /><br /><b>2.) Van Meter Schools have embraced technology. &nbsp;</b>It appears that there are a lot of school districts that are doing this across the country, and many of them with iPads specifically. &nbsp;Here in Minnesota, <a href="http://kstp.com/article/stories/s2593837.shtml" target="_blank">Lakeville Public Schools</a> just rolled out 1800 iPads in their buildings. &nbsp;Whether iPads, MacBooks, or some other tool, the end result is that Van Meter has embraced the technology. &nbsp;They understand that technology is a cornerstone in education today and this is referenced on their <a href="http://www.vmbulldogs.com/district/technology-literacy.cfm" target="_blank">Teaching and Learning Technology page</a> as well. &nbsp;Technology is a large part of what they do there. &nbsp;The same emphasis appears at FAIR School in specific reference to our 1:1 MacBook program. &nbsp;Check out more information about that program&nbsp;<a href="https://sites.google.com/a/wmep.k12.mn.us/fair/1-1" target="_blank">here</a>. <br /><br /><b>3.) The town of Van Meter and the school district appear very progressive. </b>&nbsp;They have moved ahead of other Iowa and midwest schools to embrace this technology. &nbsp;In fact, they have done it with overwhelming community support as well. &nbsp;That appears to be a large hurdle in today's world – How to get the public to understand the need for students to have access to technology. &nbsp;In Inver Grove Heights, MN (a southern suburb of Minneapolis) their technology levy has been defeated twice. &nbsp;Check out the moving and realistic <a href="http://invergroveheights.patch.com/articles/isd-199-technology-levy-defeated#pdf-9436388" target="_blank">press release</a> by the superintendent. &nbsp;Having technology as part of the curriculum is an important piece of the educational landscape across the country today. &nbsp;It fits in directly with the Iowa Core&nbsp;Curriculum&nbsp;and the revised Minnesota standards as well. &nbsp;However, how many school districts crave for the community support that they have in Van Meter?<br /><br /><b>4.) Van Meter gets the idea that technology is a TOOL to aid in education. </b>&nbsp;The English teacher in this video says: "The laptops are a source for information. &nbsp;They don't make the teaching, they make the teaching easier." &nbsp;How true is this statement? &nbsp;Too many school districts get caught up with the big shiny object (iPads more often than not today) and do not really have an integration plan. &nbsp;After a little digging I found Van Meter's <a href="http://www.vmbulldogs.com/cms_files/resources/2011-12K-12LibraryTechCurriculum%20(1).pdf" target="_blank">Library Science&nbsp;Curriculum</a>. &nbsp;What do you notice about this? &nbsp;The big thing that I saw was that skills that are very specific and scaffolded throughout the grade levels. &nbsp;In our school district I believe most of our students can accomplish the skills in K-8, but then our official media classes stop. &nbsp;It would be great to hear more about how Van Meter meets these high school curriculum requirements. &nbsp;Too often I think we "assume" that technology literacy is taught in our high schools. &nbsp;Is it really though? &nbsp;Can our students accomplish everything on Van Meter's high school list? &nbsp;Can they do it effectively? &nbsp;This is a skill I want to look at specifically in our high school throughout the summer. &nbsp;Students need to continue learning about technology in high school, using the <a href="http://www.p21.org/" target="_blank">Partnership for the 21st Century Skills</a>&nbsp;as a framework, in order to be successful in the future. <br /><br />How do your students or schools use the P21 skills? &nbsp;Have you heard about all the awesome things going on at Van Meter Schools? &nbsp;How do we teach media and technology skills in high school?rugglesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04442878455219664244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-58038357334277393192012-05-27T20:20:00.000-06:002012-05-27T20:26:36.208-06:00A Closer Look at PodcastsPodcasts oh how I love you! &nbsp;The whole idea of a podcasts has captured me ever since I heard about them. The fact that you can record yourself, create an episode, and then publish it online for the entire world to hear and download to their individual iPod or other device is incredible. &nbsp;Just the thought amazed me a few years ago when I heard it, but now it seems a bit outdated in the world of Web 2.0 and a variety of awesome ways to inform people about the information relevant to them. &nbsp;Podcasts have changed from the straight audio to include enhanced and also video podcasts. &nbsp;Personally, if I am going to complete a podcast I am going back to the bread and butter of straight audio. &nbsp;I have done this recently using <a href="http://www.podomatic.com/" target="_blank">PodOMatic</a> (A great tool if you have not heard about it for publishing your podcasts). &nbsp;In fact, here is a <a href="http://rugglesr.podomatic.com/entry/2012-05-20T18_14_36-07_00" target="_blank">link</a> to my most recent podcast on Distributed Learning Communities for class last week. <br /><br />I'm not a professional podcaster and that is OK. &nbsp;However, some people do spend a lot more time than I do creating and publishing podcasts on iTunes and a variety of other websites. &nbsp;For a more complete primer into podcasting look no further than my classmate Tyler's recent post on podcasts at <a href="http://saroyalstech.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Royal Technology</a>. &nbsp;He also has some great favorites you might want to look into as well.<br /><br />As you may have guessed, this week in class Dr. Z asked us to look a bit closer at podcasts and especially those on iTunes. &nbsp;These people are professionals or semi-pros and they have the right equipment, time, and energy to create great podcasts. &nbsp;We were asked to look at three podcasts of our choice this week and reflect on them. &nbsp;Here is what I noticed:<br /><br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>PODCAST #1:</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/appy-hours-4-u-blog-talk-radio/id475247820" target="_blank">Appy Hours 4 U - Blog Talk Radio Feed</a></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">This first podcast publisher description was listed as: Educators &amp; App Enthusiasts Lisa Johnson &amp; Yolanda Barker will guide you through a menu of app-ealing lesson ideas, apptivities, and pedagogical practices.&nbsp; These two ladies are connected with the <a href="http://www.techchef4u.com/" target="_blank">Techchef4u</a> website and <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/techchef4u/id517554320?mt=8" target="_blank">app</a>.&nbsp; This website is a great resource for individuals that are looking for free apps – through either method.</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">This podcast was titled: “iLearn App Development Project.”&nbsp; This was a really informative podcast about the iLearn group of apps (Check out their <a href="http://gameslab.radford.edu/iLearn/apps.html" target="_blank">website</a> for more information).&nbsp; This was a really interesting podcast because the show hosts interviewed the development team for iLearn.&nbsp; I was given a closer look into what app production and publishing looks like in the real world.&nbsp; This podcast was very relevant to my interests with iPads and the apps that are possible.&nbsp; I am so used to using the VPP and downloading the apps and trying them out, but I don’t really get into the world of developing, code, and the artwork.&nbsp; This podcast, although it was an interview, did include a lot of dead air time and in addition there are some odd breaks and pauses.&nbsp; It almost appeared like they recorded this podcast and did not spend a lot of time editing it.&nbsp; I did like that they covered some interesting topics and the interview was really informative.&nbsp; However, I would suggest improving this podcast by cutting out some odd pauses, coughs, and uninteresting pieces.&nbsp; This is a very long podcast, 37 minutes, but there are some other pieces that I felt could be cut so that it could be a bit tighter.&nbsp; Overall, this is a good listen and the hosts do a great job.&nbsp; If you want to hear about apps, listen directly to app developers, and hear about integration of apps into the curriculum.&nbsp; Then this is the podcast for you!</span></div><div class="p2"><br /><b>PODCAST #2:</b><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/maccast-enhanced-for-mac-geeks/id74374416" target="_blank">MacCast (Enhanced) - For Mac Geeks, by Mac Geeks</a></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">The second podcast publisher description was listed as: The enhanced AAC edition of the show for Mac Geeks by Mac Geeks. We cover everything Macintosh. Keep up to date on the latest Mac news, topics and rumors. Throw in a good dose of helpful tips and listener questions and feedback and you have the MacCast. Enjoy!</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">The podcast that I listened to was titled: “eMaccast 2012.05.15.”&nbsp; This was a really interesting podcast because it covered a great deal of information about the rumors, updates, and tips on everything Mac.&nbsp; This specific episode also interviewed the author of “<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/paperless/id520393162" target="_blank">Paperless</a>,"&nbsp;David Sparks.&nbsp; It was a great interview and overall this podcast was very informative.&nbsp; The huge number of tips, tricks, and overall rumors about Apple intrigued me.&nbsp; This is a very relevant topic for me because I do have to oversee and manage over 500 Apple devices on a daily basis.&nbsp; It is a lot to do and having a few tips and tricks always makes life easier.&nbsp; What I really enjoyed about this podcast was the relevancy of the information and how the podcast was enhanced.&nbsp; It had links and images in addition to the talking.&nbsp; This allowed me to get a copy of the author’s book and click on other topics for more information.&nbsp; What I did not like about this podcast was that it was extremely long, 1 hour and 24 minutes.&nbsp; Some of the items the host talked through when I really thought it may have been better for his listeners to click a link, because it is an enhanced podcast, and read up. &nbsp;This would have offered an alterative to hearing him go through step by step instructions on an audio podcast.&nbsp; I think that if the host did this with his podcast it would make the length a bit shorter and more manageable for the listeners.&nbsp; The only suggestion I have is for the host to continue discussing interesting and not redundant Apple news, as many of his listeners probably already have an eye on the forums and chats available about Apple, and to keep the length of the podcasts a bit shorter.&nbsp; It is hard to dedicate an hour and a half to a podcast that is one person talking.&nbsp; There was not a lot of volume change, audio transitions, or anything else to signify the switch between topics.&nbsp; This might be an easy way to break up the length and help the editing as well.&nbsp; This was an interesting podcast and the trends and rumors about Apple are something that every technology director that has OS and iOS devices in their districts should be paying attention to on a daily if not weekly basis. &nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><br /><b>PODCAST #3:&nbsp;</b><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p1"><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tedtalks-education/id470623037" target="_blank">TED Talks Education</a></div><div class="p2">The third podcast publisher description was listed as: “What should future schools look like? How do brains learn? Some of the world's greatest educators, researchers, and community leaders share their stories and visions onstage at the TED conference, TEDx events and partner events around the world.”<span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">The podcast that I listed to was titled:&nbsp;“Joe Sabia: The technology of storytelling.”&nbsp; In it iPad storyteller Joe Sabia introduced me to Lothar Meggendorfer, who created a bold technology for storytelling – the pop-up book. Sabia showed how new technology has always helped us tell our own stories, from the walls of caves to his own onstage iPad.&nbsp; This was a very interesting podcast because Sabia used a variety of apps to present.&nbsp; I counted at least ten tools when I took a look at this video podcast.&nbsp; This podcast was also very relevant to my interests of podcasting, storytelling, iPads, and apps.&nbsp; What I really liked about this podcast was that it was a video recording of a TED talk.&nbsp; <a href="http://www.ted.com/" target="_blank">TED</a> is a great organization that has so many wonderful videos that are short, sweet, and to the point.&nbsp; The speaker does not have time to give long and drawn out responses, instead they need to be short and to the point.&nbsp; I also enjoyed that this was a video podcast.&nbsp; It gave more life and interest to the content than just an audio podcast.&nbsp; This podcast, in comparison to the others, was a whopping 3 minutes and 51 seconds.&nbsp; I really enjoyed the length and think that it fit the message and overall topic very well.&nbsp; As far as improving these podcasts, I do not think I would want to try.&nbsp; TED is such a widely recognized organization that what they do and how they do it is top notch.&nbsp; I did not see anywhere in this podcast where they could have improved.&nbsp; This podcast is exceptional.&nbsp; If only I had time to watch the rest of them!</span></div><div class="p1"><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Overall I learned that podcasts are unique items that can be long, short, video, enhanced, or just audio – but all of them were very informative about their specific episode topic. &nbsp;I was glad that we were asked to look at some podcasts prior to our upcoming assignment. &nbsp;It provided a few tips, hints, and ideas to work from for my next one.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">What podcasts do you listen to? &nbsp;Have you listened to any of the publishers above? &nbsp;What other podcasts should have been listed above?</span></div>rugglesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04442878455219664244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-63949600163731007292012-05-25T06:38:00.000-06:002012-05-25T07:01:39.891-06:00Help for Google Apps UsersRecently one of my graduate school professors at UNI, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420546861775303616" target="_blank">Dr. Z</a>, asked me about support documents for Google Apps. &nbsp;This is not an abnormal request for a Google Apps for Education Certified Trainer like myself. &nbsp;However, I do notice that a lot of people are a bit confused when looking for help as there are so many places to go. &nbsp;I will RT his blog post <a href="http://drzreflects.blogspot.com/2012/05/6-important-resources-for-learning.html?spref=tw" target="_blank">here</a> for those that are interested. &nbsp;There are a number of great places to go online for support and I hope this solves the&nbsp;call for "Help!" when considering Google Apps.<br /><br />However, the&nbsp;Administrative Assistants (AA) are one&nbsp;area of Google Apps users that is usually forgotten. These people are essential to the organization, but often times they do not get the technology support or training they deserve. &nbsp;Shout out to Sally, Renee, and Megan! &nbsp;Here are a few resources not listed above that are specifically for our AAs:<br /><br /><a href="https://docs.google.com/a/wmep.k12.mn.us/file/d/0B0tcZmABOLHrYTg2OTQxYmQtYmE1Yy00YTY1LTk2N2EtZDNjMDQ4OWU4ZjZl/edit?pli=1#" target="_blank">A PDF guide specifically for Gmail</a><br />How do you set up your email for a delegate situation? &nbsp;How do you send email for your principal?<br /><br /><a href="http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&amp;ctx=mail&amp;answer=138350" target="_blank">Video regarding Gmail delegation</a><br />Some people are visual and auditory learners. &nbsp;Here is a resource for you!<br /><br /><a href="https://docs.google.com/a/wmep.k12.mn.us/file/d/0B0tcZmABOLHrNDI3N2QwZjItMWM4OC00Y2I0LTgyNmYtN2QyNjQwOWYxMjQy/edit#" target="_blank">Calendar delegation</a><br />In addition to Gmail, the other big task is setting up appointments using the calendar. &nbsp;Look no further!<br /><br /><a href="http://learn.googleapps.com/executive-assistants" target="_blank">General Administrative Assistant&nbsp;Information</a><br />A one-stop shop for Administrative Assistants from Google. &nbsp;Get support, resources, and a whole lot more.<br /><br /><a href="http://assistants.googleapps.com/" target="_blank">Administrative Assistant Community</a><br />Everyone likes to bounce ideas off one another. &nbsp;Check out this Google Apps community specifically for AAs. &nbsp;You may just get your question answered or learn something new.<br /><br />Please share this post with your AAs.<br /><br />Do you have other resources that should be posted either on Dr. Z's page or here? &nbsp;Please let me know!Mr. Rugglesnoreply@blogger.comMinneapolis, MN, USA44.983334 -93.2666744.893485 -93.4245985 45.073183 -93.108741500000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-16682239711573803782012-05-22T17:58:00.002-06:002012-05-25T06:39:23.932-06:00Google Docs Research Pane: UpdatedAfter last week's announcement Google went ahead and listened to the masses (amazing isn't it). &nbsp;They went ahead and added in Google Scholar and citations. &nbsp;Check out this short video for the update:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/6JNkr_zJYts/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6JNkr_zJYts?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /> <param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /> <embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6JNkr_zJYts?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><br />Please note that we are a Rapid Release Domain for Google Apps for Education. &nbsp;Therefore, even thought these are cool features, you may not have access to them yet. &nbsp;They are coming and you can experiment with them in a personal Gmail account.<br /><br />Also, for the Official Google Posting check out this <a href="https://plus.google.com/112893701314508522131/posts/7aiTSTZrPp9" target="_blank">URL</a>.<br /><br />Reactions? &nbsp;Do you like that citations are complete in the Document? &nbsp;Will we continue to teach citations in English class?Mr. Rugglesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-85608089314853183382012-05-21T20:59:00.002-06:002012-05-25T06:40:07.053-06:00First Drive: SMART Notebook 11First drives are always so much fun. &nbsp;Do you remember the first car you ever test drove? &nbsp;Mine was a big boat of a car, but it ended up getting me from Point A to Point B. <br /><br />If only SMART Notebook could be as much fun as test driving cars! &nbsp;Sometimes it seems like a terrible x-girlfriend that you cannot get rid of. &nbsp;Our school, like many, purchased a number of these boards over the years and we have had mixed results. &nbsp;Some of our teachers love them, use the Lesson Activity Toolkit, and all the features. &nbsp;Then on the other side of the spectrum others use it strictly as a glorified overhead projector. &nbsp;I can't help walking by, shaking my head, and wondering why we spent the extra few thousand dollars for the interactivity. &nbsp;Regardless, now we have the boards and the training is ongoing. &nbsp;Like any other piece of technology it requires users to become familiar with the features and how they can actually integrate it within their classrooms. <br /><br />Speaking of, shameless plug, if you know anyone in the Duluth, MN area that wants to sharpen their skills check out this <a href="http://gpde.smumn.edu/public/catalog_details.cfm?ID=4028&amp;fcourse=2011M3GPDE5247A&amp;prog_code=GPDE" target="_blank">SMART Board course</a> I am co-teaching this summer. &nbsp;We extensively cover integrating the software into our classrooms heavily in this course. &nbsp;It's all about you, your classroom, and a SMART Board.<br /><br />Throughout the years I have not had a great experience with SMART and their software for Macs. &nbsp;It has gotten better, but there was an incident earlier this year when the software got updated and the board drivers did not. &nbsp;This caused major issues and most of the staff had to be manually reverted back to the old version of the software (not a fun time in the IT department). &nbsp;Some times the software works great, but at other times it seems to crash. &nbsp;If there was ever a reason to buy a PC emulator it might be for this software to run properly.<br /><br />Well, as technology continues to change so does SMART Technology and their software. &nbsp;I downloaded this new version of the software the day after it was released and had mixed results. &nbsp;Here is a quick video showing some of the new features in Notebook 11:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/XCr4fkMrQks?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After spending a few more days testing out the software I have noticed a few things:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1.) The software overall seems a bit slower to react. &nbsp;It is slower to load, close, and overall pull up things. &nbsp;It does appear a bit larger on my HD, but still it should be easier and not harder to complete work. &nbsp;And yes, it still pulls up a blank presentation every time you open it up. &nbsp;One more thing to fix!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2.) The adaptable toolbar is a nice addition. &nbsp;It is a common complaint when I am teaching the software that there are so many buttons. &nbsp;The new interface makes that a lot easier to navigate and get to the important items when you need them. &nbsp;The intelligence also makes a whole lot more sense in this app compared to the MS Office suite, which is a bit convoluted at times.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">3.) It has not crashed yet. &nbsp;Seriously. &nbsp;I am not kidding! &nbsp;I am a constant Command-S user in this program, but now I feel a little safer. &nbsp;I will keep you updated on this one, because I am not convinced yet. &nbsp;I did have one problem closing out of the program when I was done that required a Force Quit. &nbsp;Regardless, it appears to be a bit more stable over previous versions.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">4.) There also appear to be a number of new features that I have not tried out yet (the browser in the slide, the activity builder, etc.), but the one that I have used heavily is the new Ink Layer. &nbsp;They have completely redesigned it from the ground up. &nbsp;What we are used to with one Ink Layer over the top of everything has now been changed into an individual Ink Layer over each individual window – now called Ink Aware. &nbsp;The interface is a bit hard to get used to and the controls are also complicated to understand. &nbsp;In addition, the floating toolbar is essentially rendered useless in this new version of Notebook. &nbsp;In my limited test drive I found this to be the one overwhelming reason of why NOT to update at this time. &nbsp;Check out <a href="http://www.smarttech.com/us" target="_blank">SMART's website</a> and the links below for more discussion on this topic. &nbsp;Essentially they took the layer out and tried to make it a smart and aware layer. &nbsp;The verdict is still out on this one!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I will continue to experiment and try new things out. &nbsp;However, if you are interested in updating your Notebook to the new version check this <a href="http://smarttech.com/us/Support/Browse+Support/Download+Software" target="_blank">URL</a> out. &nbsp;If you want a quick overview of the new features from SMART check out this <a href="http://smarttech.com/Home%20Page/Solutions/Education%20Solutions/Products%20for%20education/Software/SMART%20Notebook%20collaborative%20learning%20software/SMART%20Notebook%20collaborative%20learning%20software?WT.ac=HPB3_nb11_050912" target="_blank">URL</a>. This is also a great resource for an outside look at the new update from <a href="http://www.teachertechnologies.com/2012/05/smart-notebook-11/" target="_blank">TeacherTechnology</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Have you tried out the new Notebook 11 yet? &nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What things have you noticed?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Do you have an opinion on the Ink Layer vs. Ink Aware? &nbsp;</div><br /><br />Mr. Rugglesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-71041294347288291802012-05-17T06:59:00.000-06:002012-05-25T06:40:34.552-06:00Google Docs: Research PaneGoogle Apps recently released a new Research Pane to all their users. This first appeared in normal Gmail accounts and has slowly crept into Google Apps users. I noticed it yesterday morning when I logged in to my school account.<br /><br />This is a great new feature that allows you to research the web, find images, and quotes from inside of a Google Document. Check out this video for more information and classroom applications:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/hoLbthVCMtA?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><br /><br />For more information on this new feature check out Google's Blog on this topic titled: <a href="http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2012/05/find-facts-and-do-research-inside.html" target="_blank">"Find Facts and Do Research Inside Google Documents.</a>"<br /><br />Another great source is one of my new favorite blogs, Free Technology For Teachers. &nbsp;He also has a post and some great screen shots as well titled: <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/05/search-web-within-your-google-documents.html#disqus_thread" target="_blank">"Search the Web Within Your Google Documents."</a><br /><br />Way to go Google! &nbsp;Keep the new features coming.<br /><br />Mr. Rugglesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-59320531322088621642012-05-14T21:01:00.000-06:002012-05-14T21:02:11.406-06:00Welcome Back World!Time flies when you are having fun, right? &nbsp;Well, that is what it has seemed like for the past few months since I have last written. &nbsp;Elvis has NOT left the building, but it did appear that I left the blogging world for a time. &nbsp;Let's find out why...<br /><br /><b>I have been busy. &nbsp;</b><br />That is the understatement of the century. &nbsp;It seems like the life of teaching and directing technology in a building keep people busy. &nbsp;I knew this going in, but I honestly did not think I would be this busy. &nbsp;Between fully scheduled days, special events some weekends, and long nights sending emails and solving problems from abroad, life does not seem to stop when we want it to. &nbsp;Regardless, just because I am busy does not mean that I have not been reflecting or that I have not wanted to write on this blog. <br /><br /><b>I have not had time.</b><br />OK, this is a lame one. &nbsp;It is more of a personal confession that sometimes I get sick of technology. &nbsp;I know, that's hard to say for someone that loves technology as much as I do. &nbsp;However, when the decision is to spend another hour or so writing on my blog or with a real person (like my wife), I am going to choose the real person every time. &nbsp;I need to remember that personal reflection is an integral part of learning and growing. &nbsp;I have continued to reflect in different and new ways, but I just have not put anything on here. &nbsp;Get ready for a ride.<br /><br /><b>I have expanded my family &amp; life.</b><br />I guess last time I blogged I was married, but having another person around changes your priorities. &nbsp;I alluded to this in the last paragraph, but it is a totally true statement. &nbsp;I want to spend time with my wife way more than I want to write sometimes. &nbsp;I love to express what I am learning through text; therefore, I am really looking forward to continuing to blog in the coming months and years. &nbsp;I have also expanded my life. &nbsp;Kind of a weird statement, but essentially my wife and I bought a home together. &nbsp;Exciting, right? &nbsp;It has been great; however, with it comes more space and more responsibility. &nbsp;Both things that take adjustment.<br /><br /><b>I have not really had a good reason.</b><br />Once again, this is kind of a lame reason as well. &nbsp;There are have been some really cool things going on at FAIR School Downtown. &nbsp;In fact, our 1:1 iPad Program in elementary is going so well the administration decided to expand it to K-2 for next year. &nbsp;This year we piloted iPads in middle school and expanded our 1:1 MacBook program to include grades 9-12. &nbsp;Yes, a lot of devices and even more are coming in over the summer. &nbsp;FAIR has also done some really cool stuff with Google Apps for Education (I obtained my Certified Trainer status since the last post as well), Facebook, and SMS text messaging. &nbsp;All of these will probably be blogs for another time. &nbsp;Not to mention the super cool stuff happening each and every day at an arts school in the heart of Minneapolis. <br /><br />Guess what? &nbsp;I now have a great reason to get back into the blogging world! &nbsp;I started my Masters Degree Program in Instructional Technology at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). &nbsp;I looked into this program roughly a year and a half ago when I wanted to start my degree. &nbsp;However, they were in the middle of a cohort. &nbsp;Now the new cohort has started and I am&nbsp;privileged&nbsp;to be a part of it. &nbsp;I just got through looking at our first two assignments and we have some great people in this program. &nbsp;In the future you will see some unique and interesting posts on this blog (probably stuff for UNI) and some more of the same stuff you have come to enjoy from Fifty-Nine Minutes.<br /><br />To my new readers, welcome. <br />To everyone else, welcome back. <br /><br />Thanks for reading!rugglesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04442878455219664244noreply@blogger.comMinneapolis, MN, USA44.983334 -93.2666744.893485 -93.4245985 45.073183 -93.108741500000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-23793244389323079062011-03-27T10:19:00.007-06:002011-03-27T10:54:23.371-06:00Pulling Text from a PDF<div style="text-align: left;">Last week after hunting high and low for a short story text to read in my English 9 class I discovered a great story, but it was only in a PDF. I wanted to manipulate it a bit and highlight some of the vocabulary and sections that stu</div><div style="text-align: left;">dents should be looking out for. I also wanted to add comprehension questions at the end to launch into our in-class discussion the following day. Long story short I needed to be able to convert the text into text.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Every once in a while I had to do this before, but I had never come up with a good method. Apple claims that with the new version of Snow Leopard that you can do it in Preview. I have tried this a few times and it just doesn’t work the way it is supposed to every time. Plus it only works on some PDFs and not on every one.</div> <p class="p2" style="text-align: left;">After looking for a fool proof solution - and the many software solutions out there that promised this and didn't deliver - I realized that in fact I was looking too far. Google Docs does and did exactly what I was looking for with the “Upload” feature. I have used this before to transfer Word and Pages documents into Google Docs, but never a PDF. Thanks to Google's back end technology it can do the conversion f</p><p class="p2" style="text-align: left;">rom PDF to text for you quickly and easily.<span class="s1"></span></p> <p class="p2">Here’s how you would do it:<span class="s1"></span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">1.) Go to your Gmail account and click on the Docs tab at the to</span>p.</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">2.) Once in Docs you will notice next to your "C</span><span class="s1">reate new" drop down there is a button called "Uplo</span>ad." Click on that:</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yw2A-Fpq1Wc/TY9j0EXiozI/AAAAAAAAAGA/8UnU7NeHCQ4/s200/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-27%2Bat%2B11.12.37%2BAM.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px; height: 90px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588795408766903090" /></span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">3.) This brings you to an Upload fil</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; ">es page. Click the blue text that says "Upload files." Follow the steps to upload your file. This is very similar to attaching a file to an e-mail.</span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tmjft3v4Fx4/TY9qJ9QphcI/AAAAAAAAAGw/sd7hvXi1QXs/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-27%2Bat%2B11.12.50%2BAM.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588802381885834690" /><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">4.) After you attach it you will notice that the page will refresh and it will have your document listed in the box. Upload more documents if you want.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aZjucq7Pih0/TY9qK2OgCiI/AAAAAAAAAHI/TKKSQsD4an4/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-27%2Bat%2B11.17.56%2BAM.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 166px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588802397177645602" /><br /></div><div>5.) Google uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to complete the transfer. There are however limits and restrictions. For a full outline of those and how OCR works click <a href="http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=176692&amp;hl=en">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--M6AT92HbYs/TY9qKOMW8sI/AAAAAAAAAG4/B78hqcMcuL0/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-27%2Bat%2B11.16.49%2BAM.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 219px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588802386431242946" /><br /></div></div><div>6.) At the bottom of the page be sure to check the box titled: "Convert text from PDF to Google Documents" so that conversion can happen.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EjE4xqR676Y/TY9qKRHiYhI/AAAAAAAAAHA/eymXLhuhpgI/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-27%2Bat%2B11.17.05%2BAM.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 41px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588802387216327186" /></div><div>7.) After you click "Start Upload" the document will come back with the files created as a direct URL to your new text Google Document. Click on the link and you will get something that looks like this:</div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tu7fNR8fW3E/TY9qLTHBh_I/AAAAAAAAAHQ/o50Ir6DbUCE/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-27%2Bat%2B11.18.15%2BAM.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 158px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588802404930914290" /><div>As you will notice there will be the scanned pages above each block of text that came from the PDF. The OCR is not perfect and it will not transfer certain tables and diagrams, but with the text it does a great job. Now that the text is in a Google Document you can edit, manipulate, or even export to a Word Document.</div><div><br /></div><div>Google Docs saved the day for me and allowed my class to be very productive all within only one file. Most important this technology is free with a Google account. Happy converting!</div>rruggleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004798089838610143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142333628236674991.post-90316998612758045032011-03-12T19:23:00.006-07:002011-03-27T10:55:05.406-06:00Google Apps for Education & FormsJust over a year ago we began a shift from our old email services to Google Applications for Education. At times this shift has been hard and confusing, but once all the nuts and bolts were ironed out everything has worked very smoothly. Key to this process was allowing our staff members try out, implement, and discover all the unique features of Google Apps over last summer. When they returned we pushed them to use Google Sites for their teacher website and Docs for a variety of internal forms and discussions among colleagues. We also used Google Calendar for all those appointments we seem to have each and every day. This transition has gone very well and the success continues to astound me. A few of our innovative uses:<br /><br />-Conferences: The ease with which instructors now create <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KmM0Qm2MFhg/TXwrDCV9_jI/AAAAAAAAAFI/sexS_kXdHDA/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-12%2Bat%2B7.16.08%2BPM.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 113px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KmM0Qm2MFhg/TXwrDCV9_jI/AAAAAAAAAFI/sexS_kXdHDA/s200/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-12%2Bat%2B7.16.08%2BPM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583384969201188402" border="0" /></a>collaborative documents with each other and then edit them in real time is incredible. This year was the second year that we have used a conference Google Document across the high school to share and schedule conferences for each of our roughly 150 students. The kicker was that we did it all at the same time and in the same document. We even used an online form to have parents electronically submit times when they would like to meet with staff (see the video below for more information).<br /><br />-Bus Duty: After school we have consistently had a problem <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C9vebUM2hWw/TXwrDhAdRDI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/BUqJCD5sB3I/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-12%2Bat%2B7.16.27%2BPM.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C9vebUM2hWw/TXwrDhAdRDI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/BUqJCD5sB3I/s200/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-12%2Bat%2B7.16.27%2BPM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583384977432462386" border="0" /></a>dismissing all of our students at one time. There are two tiers of busses and they don’t always all get there are the same time. Google Docs and Drawings came to the rescue and now we have a document that everyone accesses at the same time each day to see which buses have arrived. Then staff across the building can dismiss their students accordingly. It has worked out very well.<br /><br />-Meeting Notes: We used to e-mail notes about a meeting to one another if someone missed for some reason. This is not the case this year because our meeting notes are being consistently updated in real time between both buildings. This has brought greater <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rRa73uOLI9o/TXwrEb6nshI/AAAAAAAAAFg/Fa7-UMGeaHE/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-12%2Bat%2B7.22.14%2BPM.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 99px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rRa73uOLI9o/TXwrEb6nshI/AAAAAAAAAFg/Fa7-UMGeaHE/s200/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-12%2Bat%2B7.22.14%2BPM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583384993245671954" border="0" /></a>collaboration and understanding between individuals and teams. Since we have multiple buildings within our district sometimes we schedule meetings when some individuals that work at both buildings cannot attend - whether for conflicting appointments or the geographic location. Now staff members can virtually participate in a meeting even if they are not physically there by commenting and adding to a Google Document that is updated in real time. Unfortunately they do not hear the audio of the meeting (even though there are other ways outside and inside of Google for doing this), but they can still be part of the meeting. It has been incredibly helpful to have all of our staff members on the same page because everyone can look at the one meeting document. We even have our associate principal adding in thoughts on a high school meeting when she is stuck in another meeting across town.<br /><br />Those are just a few of the ways that Google Apps has changed the way we run in our school, but probably one of the most unique features has been the additional training around one specific application: Google Forms.<br /><br />Google Forms operates much like SurveyMonkey, but it is free. Think of anytime when you are trying to get information from a group of people, but you don’t have a quick and easy way to do that. Well, fear no more because there is a simple and easy way to do just that. Watch the short video below for an overview (click on the image):<br /><a href="http://www.screencast.com/users/RandonRuggles/folders/Jing/media/112b9c71-3081-444b-a081-e218d6a3934c" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 182px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X5KxfYiRyy0/TXwrqXm8WJI/AAAAAAAAAFw/g2GmeKfwGEg/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-12%2Bat%2B7.18.07%2BPM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583385644924426386" border="0" /></a>This was one of the very quick and easy ways that we have used Google Forms within our school. We have also created more complicated registration and application forms - even the one for the application to our school was built using this platform. We had over 1,200 parents apply and it was all handled easily, quickly, and was completely free.<br /><br />Every time that you create a form it also creates a URL that is publicly viewable by everyone on the Internet that has that link. The permissions can be changed slightly, but in most cases you are going to want everyone to fill it out. That URL you can then post on your website, Facebook out, or even e-mail to everyone that you need or want to take your form.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JftlBpPi7cQ/TXwr4GcrL3I/AAAAAAAAAF4/9GCh3JffZFU/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-12%2Bat%2B8.12.14%2BPM.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 25px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JftlBpPi7cQ/TXwr4GcrL3I/AAAAAAAAAF4/9GCh3JffZFU/s400/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-12%2Bat%2B8.12.14%2BPM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583385880836124530" border="0" /></a>These forms have completely taken our high school by storm. I have used them for quick comprehension checks and for more intensive exams that have taken the entire hour. Our math teacher is using these (in conjunction with a bit more math in her spreadsheet) to actually have the students take the quiz using the form and then it will grade the student’s quizzes and provide her with their scores. In our world history and upper level English classes students are doing their own self grading of essays using this format. Each and every time our instructors are getting real time, electronic, feedback from our students.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O51CX84_nwI/TXwrEnUJLEI/AAAAAAAAAFo/OYpjQ6jo0Ok/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-12%2Bat%2B8.07.11%2BPM.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 199px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O51CX84_nwI/TXwrEnUJLEI/AAAAAAAAAFo/OYpjQ6jo0Ok/s200/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-12%2Bat%2B8.07.11%2BPM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583384996305513538" border="0" /></a><br /><br />All in all Google Forms has completely revolutionized the way that we get information from parents, students, and their families. However, the best news is that even though this specific app is part of our Google Apps for Education domain it is something that even if you can access. Just login to your Gmail account and click on Documents. Then create a new document and select Form. It is that easy.<br /><br />Want to know which week this summer is best to plan a vacation for your family? Create a Google Form. Once you start I guarantee that the ideas on how to use them both professionally and personally will not stop.rruggleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004798089838610143noreply@blogger.com